Dreamer
by Retorica
Summary: We're holding onto the same dream, that is, to protect each other's smile. What we don't see is our unrealized feelings towards each other, following our steps this whole time. [ Rin, Miku, Len ]
1. Chapter 1

_Tap_.

A ripple took form on the ground with a single tap of my step. It chimed with a soft ringing sound as it grew bigger, before it disappeared. I looked down to the glass-like surface underneath my feet and saw the faint reflection of myself, shattering slightly from the ripple. Towering high above my head is the ever same warm white sky.

I turned my head around to see a big tree surrounded with lush grasses, with a wooden swing tied on one of its branches. With no second thought I walked towards it. The sound following my footsteps echoing clear in my ears, and only in _my_ ears. I always think that it is a sound only I can hear, no matter how loud it is.

Sitting on the swing is a little girl, looking no older than six. A huge smile is blooming on her face as two older figures accompanying her pushed her forward, causing the swing to move in a gentle motion. She laughed, they also laughed with her. The sight twisted my heart in a strange way, but I have no idea why. I get the idea that they might be a family, but I don't know why there's this nagging feeling in me. It's almost like I know something about it…

But that's such a nice dream she is seeing.

 _Tap_.

I heard a sound. A light tapping sound of someone's footstep. The chimes are ringing in my ears, even when it sounds so far away. I turned my head away from the scene and tried to find the source of the sound, the sound of someone's presence.

It's weird. It has always been this way. I have always been walking through the dreams for as long as I can remember, but never once I have met someone else who does the same. But that ringing sound… There must be someone there.

And suddenly, the presence I felt disappeared before I can see its shape.

* * *

I can't help but thinking, what was that?

I can't say that it was a weird dream. Nothing was weird about that dream. It might be vague, but not weird. No, now that I think about it, it's not the dream that is weird, but me who happened to see that dream. It's like… It didn't feel like a dream at all, despite it being obviously dream-like. Warm white sky, crystal clear floor stretching as far as I could see, the serene feeling it gave me; you wouldn't find such place in reality.

I felt awake, as awake as I could be at that moment. But… But there's no way it can be.

I lowered my head for a moment. The wooden surface of the desk came to my sight before I closed my eyes. I certainly need to relax. Thinking about this has drained my energy off, making me feel restless. Let's take a deep breath and let the thought off.

Right after I did that, a soft voice came into my hearing. "Rin-san."

Raising my head up, I am met with a familiar face. Her turquoise eyes are on me, but they seem to be staring far off to somewhere else—I know she must be having something in her mind right now. "You look troubled," she added.

I quickly shook my head before she gets the wrong idea. "No need to worry about me. I just didn't get a good night's sleep but it's nothing to be worried about."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, really."

The look on her face changed. She doesn't express much of her feeling, and once she does it doesn't get any further than a subtle change nobody barely notices. But I noticed it anyway. There's an uneasiness reflected on her eyes, even though she's trying to hide it deep down in her heart. Miku-san has always been like that ever since I know her back in the first year… But that aside, I think I need to change the topic to stop making her worry.

"So, what brings you here?"

"Oh, the teacher paired us together for the literature class project, so I think we might discuss about it…"

"Ah, you're right." I think I am distracted enough to forget about the upcoming project already, even though the teacher has just announced it a few hours ago. "We only have a month to work on it, right?"

"Right, only a month for making a display and prepare for the presentation, so we should start working on it soon," she added. "I… I didn't mean to hurry you up or anything, but I think it would be nice to have things finished early."

"I can agree on that," I said, turning at her to give a small smile. "But you know, I'm really happy to be paired with you, Miku-san. From all the people in the class, we just happen to be paired together, isn't that great?"

She's caught off-guard right when I say that, the look on her face changed into one of surprise. She really wasn't expecting me to say that, it seems. Then with a small smile on her face, she said, "Yeah, I'm… also glad to be paired with you, Rin-san."

We went straight to the discussion about our project after that. Basically we were brainstorming ideas about what topic we should cover and how to deliver it to the other students during the presentation session. We haven't get far into the details though, since there wasn't much time left until the break ends.

"That should be enough for now…" I muttered after glancing at the clock hanging above the chalkboard. "Ah, maybe we can continue this later? After school, maybe, if you have the time?"

Miku-san shifted her gaze uncomfortably. "I'm sorry, Rin-san, I'm a bit short of free time lately…"

"N-no, it's alright! That's just some random idea, after all. It's okay if you have something else to do, we'll just continue tomorrow."

Miku-san is still looking away, seeming like she's feeling bad for turning me down. I really don't like making her feeling this way, but I don't know how else I should convince her otherwise. This whole thing is actually making me feel rather uncomfortable—and bad.

I never like seeing her that way.

* * *

The first time I saw Hatsune Miku-san was during the first year of high school—that was more-less a year ago.

Miku-san and I weren't in the same class back then, but I heard people's chit-chat about students from the other classes. About the good-looking guys, about the cute girls, the talk went around the class. Granted, we were first-graders who had just started our years in a new school, meeting new faces was something very exciting.

Naturally the talk about Miku-san—the mysterious loner girl from the next class—reached my ears. It was nothing but rumors, but listening to them made me wonder, is it true that she's always alone, or that she absolutely doesn't make any contact with her classmates? I thought that not everyone necessarily likes being in a large groups or socializing all the time, so Miku-san shouldn't be the odd one out.

But then I overheard a conversation between Miku-san and her classmate.

"Don't you feel lonely, Hatsune-san? We're feeling rather bad about… that you're always alone in the class. You really can talk to us if you have anything that's troubling you—"

"I appreciate that, but I…" There was a pause between her words. "I'd really rather be lonely. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel bad about it."

"Oh," came the other's voice. Her voice sounded far away. "I… I see. If Hatsune-san is okay with that, then I guess there's nothing we can do. Um, until then, Hatsune-san."

It appeared that she had left Miku-san by the soft sound of her shoes. Having just witnessed a conversation that confirmed all the rumors I had heard made me feel a tad uncomfortable. Not only that I realized that dealing with her wasn't as easy as what I initially thought, I was also starting to feel really bad for her. But it didn't seem like there was anything left for me to do, seeing that even her classmate was turned down.

Nevertheless, I needed to get back to my own business—the conversation I overheard made me stop on my track. I set a foot to the corridor where the conversation took place, but was faced with an unexpected situation.

I saw Miku-san crouching down while burying her face in her knees, seeming to be… crying. I could hear the sound of her muffled cries through her covered up face, sounding like she was trying to hold the noise down. Her body shook violently in every breath she took, and seeing that, I just…

Was it from the conversation before? Wasn't she the one who said that she would rather be alone? Why was she crying? Why did her cries… sounded so heart-wrenching?

Why was she doing this to herself?

* * *

It's a serene place with no single feeling of fear.

The sky is endlessly white, no clouds or anything tainting its pure, warm color. It is white, stretching as far as I can see. On the ground is a clear, glass-like surface reflecting the white sky. I'm standing in the middle of it, completely alone.

 _Tap_.

A ripple grew from where I stepped my foot on the ground. At the same time a soft ringing sound started to echo in my ears. I watched as the ripple started to disappear, while in my ears the ringing sound faded away together with the disappearing ripple. Then slowly, I started to bring my feet forward, leaving ripples behind in every step I take. The ringing sounds continues to sound, overlapping one with another until it reverberates loudly—and yet it's still a pleasing sound to hear.

A floor with the color of the sky, it feels like I'm treading the sky, but the ripples make it seem like I'm walking on water instead. The soft sound that follows along my steps also makes this place almost unbelievable, almost dream-like.

Dream-like… Haven't I been here before?

After walking for a little while, something came into my sight. Something other than the white sky and glass floor, it's something that I can recognize as a scenery. It's a field with green grass covering the entirety of it. In the midst of it is a huge tree, standing strong, or at least strong enough to hold the weight of the wooden swing tied to it and the little girl sitting on it.

The little girl over there isn't the only person in the scenery, but there are two other people accompanying her, one male and one female. They seem to be comparatively older than her. Are those her parents? Either way, they're seem to be having fun. I cannot see their face clearly, but seeing their interaction makes me think so.

I walked closer. The ringing sound is still following me, but they don't seem to be bothered with it—it's as if they cannot hear it. They don't seem to see me, either, as they continue to have fun in their own world. But something else caught my attention; it doesn't really matter anymore whether they see me or not. And that's… Now that I can see them better, that little girl, the little girl with teal hair and bright turquoise eyes, really looks like Miku-san.

What… What is this place?

"What are you doing here?"

A sudden call from my back started me, making me whirl quickly to find its source. The clear voice pierced through the silence unlike the soft ringing sound before, almost as if it belongs to someone… and I really did find someone there.

Standing in the midst of white is a boy around my age. His messy blond hair is tied into a small ponytail on the back of his head, and his piercing blue eyes are staring straight to me. And on the sight of my face, he opened his mouth once again.

"Who are you?"

* * *

 _Next Update: November 11, 2017_

 _Thank you for reading!_


	2. Chapter 2

Even until now I still cannot wrap my mind around the dream that I had last night.

It was almost the same with the dream in the night before where I found myself standing amidst the white, if not the same dream, but there was more. The big tree surrounded with grasses, the little girl who bear resemblance to Miku-san, and the blond boy with blue eyes.

Why did he call me? Or how could that even happen? _Who_ is he?

But the thing that questions me the most is of course, whether that was actually a dream or not. I remember the whole thing clearly—the sight of it, the sound of it, the _feel_ of it, it was too vivid for a dream. Almost like I didn't fall asleep in the first place. But if those were real… how could it be? I know that there is no such place in reality. That place was too beautiful for this twisted and dirty world.

And it felt really peaceful, too.

I probably have been staring at one page for too long. Being too engrossed in my own thoughts, I'm not even reading the words on the text book. The self-study session is going to end soon, and I barely even study… but I just cannot help it. Until the question in my head gets answered, I don't see myself getting over it.

I closed my book as soon as I heard the bell ringing. There isn't any point in trying to study right now; I would just let my mind wander again while staring at the book. Heaving a sigh, I stood up from my chair and walked slowly to Miku-san's table. Maybe if studying doesn't work, working on the project would—I just can't stand myself being this distracted.

"Ah, Rin-san," Miku-san greeted me as soon as she saw me. "Are you here to talk about the project?"

I nodded silently while watching her putting her text books into her bag. "So we're going to talk about the difference between classic and modern literature, right?"

"Right. Actually I was searching for a bit last night… and it seems like the early modern literature really put emphasis on what's traditional and what's modern."

"Like how they mention that 'this room is a western-style room' or something along that line? Now that you mention it, it sounds quite odd for us who's living in this era… We wouldn't be saying that."

Miku-san placed her hand over her mouth. "Yeah, but… that's the general idea about it. If we're about to talk about that in our presentation, we can't make it really detailed."

"And something that broad might've been covered by the other groups… Then we should pick a smaller topic to discuss about. Something different, perhaps?"

I stared at the table in front of me, thinking about a topic for the presentation. A 'different' topic really might be good because the usual ones would be boring to listen to during the presentation session. Something nobody would be thinking about…

"Something like… homosexuality."

"Huh?!" suddenly Miku-san exclaimed, then stared at me with wide, unbelieving eyes. Also I can see her flinching, as if she wasn't expecting me to say something like that…

Then I felt my own face heating up at the realization; _of course_ she wasn't expecting that! "S-sorry! I… thought you wouldn't be that surprised hearing… that…" I stuttered, looking away to hide my embarrassment.

"O-of course I will, you said it out of nowhere!" From the corner of my eyes I saw her looking down, seeming to be hiding her embarrassment as well.

Still not looking to her, I continued on despite my reddening face. "The… The idea came up suddenly so I said it without a second thought—b-but don't get the wrong idea!"

"I… I understand…"

As Miku-san's voice drones off, an awkward silence took place between the two of us. That's before her voice came back to my hearing, "But that's a really interesting topic, now that I think about it. Sure some titles seem to lean towards that, like—"

"N-no!" I cut her mid-sentence. "While what you said is true, I can't bear the embarrassment having to say that in front of the whole class!"

"R-right," she nodded and fidgeted afterwards, while her eyes travelled around class. She looks uncomfortable, but I don't know from what. "Maybe picking a more general love as a topic would be better…"

And I agreed with her without a second thought. "That will do. I mean, I'm sorry for not making my mind."

"It's okay. By looking at your face earlier, I can understand that… it's difficult," she said with an amused smile. "I'm going to note it down, then."

I only watched as she bent down to take her notebook from her bag; the smile hasn't left her face. I've been seeing more of that smile lately, and it brings an ease to my mind… no, maybe more than that. Of course, seeing that Miku-san is slowly changing into a brighter person means a lot for me. Maybe one day she would be able to smile like the Miku-san I saw in my dream…

But was that really Miku-san I was seeing? Was that really a dream I was seeing? The thought distracts me once again, even though I'm trying to keep it away from my mind. I don't know why; this feels like something I really need to figure out no matter what.

"So, 'The Issue of Love in Literature'… Do we need to mention the 'comparison' in the title?" Miku-san's voice interrupted my thought. She seems to be noting down the title of our project. "Ah, but love is… a pretty abstract idea, though. How are we going to explain it?"

I peered over to see her notebook. "Hmm… Maybe not the love itself, but—"

My words halted when something on her book caught my eyes. It's a drawing of a little girl, sitting on a swing. The swing itself seems to be tied to the big tree behind, and surrounding the tree are tall grasses. The way the girl is positioned makes her face unseen, but… I really don't need to see her face.

The scene pictured on that drawing is just like what I saw last night.

"That's a nice drawing!" I forced myself to say those words. "Did you draw that, Miku-san?"

"Yes," she nodded timidly while casting a glance towards me. "Actually I saw a nice dream last night, so I couldn't help but sketching it… Sorry if that sounds a little weird."

My mind halted for a moment when she mentioned the word 'dream', and my heart goes drumming against my ribcage. Then it's true that what I saw last night was really a dream, and it was… Miku-san's dream?

Before Miku-san could notice anything odd, I quickly opened my mouth again. "Not at all," I say. "It's amazing, Miku-san. It's really detailed… I never knew that you're good at drawing."

"N-not at all. Besides, this is just a simple sketch. But… thank you anyway, Rin-san."

Our talk went on for a little while, but my mind couldn't stray away from that thought about the dream. It was a dream Miku-san saw; it was her nice dream. Then why did I see it? How could that happen? There's no way I can see other people's dream, right?

* * *

It couldn't be anything but a dream.

The last thing I remember was pulling my sheets over my body and tucking myself in the warmth of it. I fell asleep shortly after that—I _must_ have fallen asleep. This must be a dream. But I feel so awake, like I had been awakened from my sleep. But this is… a dream.

I'm standing in this place again. An endless sky of warm white reflected on the glass floor, nothing else comes into my sight. I only got a moment to watch the empty scenery before I heard a voice echoing in the silence.

"I know you'll come here again."

I turned around to see the same person from before. Nothing from him has changed, as far as I can remember—his hair is worn in the same ponytail, his entire attire is exactly the same like yesterday. I would think that I'm simply seeing the same dream again if only he didn't say those words.

With his eyes on me, he said, "I've been waiting."

"And you are…?"

He pulled his lips to a thin line, making a humming sound. His eyes are casted upwards like he's thinking of something. "Well," he began, "let's not talk about that yet. I think it doesn't matter 'who' I am."

He has a point; his identity isn't my biggest concern for now.

"Then, what is this place?"

He turned his head back to me, "Isn't that something you already know?"

"A… dream," I answered doubtfully. "But how?"

"I'm afraid that's something I can't answer." And he smiled at me. "You should be the one who knows."

I want to say that I know nothing about this. I didn't even know that this is _really_ a dream until earlier, but I guess there's no point in trying to deny him.

My eyes wandered back to the empty sky. "Then why is this place so empty? I've never seen a dream like this before."

"You see, this isn't the dream people usually see. That's why there are only the two of us here." At this point, he has started walking in a small circle around me. "But hadn't you seen it yesterday? That dream with the huge tree."

Miku-san's dream… So he had seen it too.

"That is the kind of dream that you usually see."

"But that's someone else's dream," I told him. "Do you know her?"

His step halted. I can see his facial expression changed into one I cannot fully understand. "I don't think so, but I'm sure that it wasn't the first time I saw her. I don't bother such thing, though."

He casted his eyes down, but even so I can see the faint reflection of his face on the ground. There is a gentle smile on his face, something that makes me feel in peace just by seeing it.

"Just seeing her having a nice dream was enough for me."

* * *

 _Next Update: November 21, 2017_

 _Thank you for reading!_


	3. Chapter 3

Snapping my eyes open, I woke up with a jolt.

The bright sky and glass-like floor is no more. I am in an almost complete darkness of my room, with only a dim light seeping through the curtain. I let a moment pass before I reached for my phone to see what time this exactly is—4 a.m. I should have gotten plenty of sleep even by now, but it doesn't feel like I have rested at all. My mind is racing, like I was awake for this whole time, but how could it be? I just woke up—and I saw a dream, after all, a dream where I met that person again.

It was really a dream—he said that too, that it was indeed a dream. But it wasn't _just_ a dream. I felt awake and completely aware, I even realized that it wasn't the kind of dream I usually have. Even until now I'm still having a hard time believing a dream that real, that vivid, but it is what it is; a dream.

That discovery doesn't settle anything as more and more questions pop into my head. How did I get there? Why did I see Miku-san's dream? Who… is that person I met in that dream? He told me not to think about 'who' he is, but his presence brings more question into my head. And also, he seems to know a lot, but it doesn't seem like he's willing to tell me anything about it.

I want to meet him again in that dream, if that means I'll get to know more about what is happening. There's still so much I want to ask; about the dream, about him, about everything, but I don't see myself getting any more sleep after this.

* * *

It's Saturday. There's no school today, but Miku-san is coming over to my house to work on the project. We thought that it would be wiser to work on the project while we can so we wouldn't need to worry about it anymore when it's nearing the deadline.

But that being said, I don't think I'm doing this because I want to be done with it. I'm having fun. Even though, I have to admit that it is kind of unusual for me to be having fun in working on a project, I'm really having fun with this that I want to keep on doing this. Or maybe it is because I am paired with Miku-san?

The moment the teacher announced us to be partners, I felt really excited that I could not help but smiling to myself. From all the students in the class that I could end up with, it's Miku-san I am paired with. I was happy, I was glad. No, I really am glad. It's like I was given the chance to get to get closer to her, to know her better.

And to see more of her smile.

Maybe that is selfish of me. Who am I to ask for such thing? But I believe that it's for the better. Even though she might not show it from her face, or say it with words, I'm sure that it's what Miku-san wants as well. She deserves that smile—anybody deserves it. I only want to bring the smile she deserves.

For a moment I was lost on what I was doing, and suddenly I was woken up by the sound of the doorbell. Hastily leaving the kitchen, I headed to the front door. Just as expected, Miku-san is standing behind that door. "Good morning, Rin-san," she timidly greeted.

"Morning, Miku-san. Just come in," I told her, opening the door wider to give her a room to walk past.

"Excuse me."

I watched as she's removing her footwear—she's wearing strapped sandals—while muttering something. "I'm really sorry that we have to do this in the weekend. I'm a bit short of free time during school days, so—"

"Don't say that, Miku-san! There's no need to worry," I said quickly. By the time I said that, she's already done with the changing. "Besides, I'm free during the weekends, so why not."

I walked past her and led her to my room upstairs, while taking in the empty sight of the house. My mother is teaching a piano course in the town, and while my father is usually home during the weekend, he got a sudden call from his office just earlier so he's off today. "Actually we can use the living room since my parents are away, but all the materials are in my room so it's better to just do it there, don't you think so?"

"Wherever is fine with you, Rin-san," she answered quick. "It's your house, after all."

Without saying anything, I turned back to look at her, stopping my movement momentarily. Before, after we decided to work on the project in the weekend, she once again apologized that we can't go to her house. "It's a complicated matter," she told me, so I wholeheartedly offered to do it over my house. It's really just a coincidence that both my parents are away for today.

I resumed my walking, deciding to continue walking to my room as we're nearing already. "Okay then," I said.

The door to my room doesn't have anything fancy adorning it. I pushed the handle down, exposing the inside of it to her. Without stepping a foot in myself, I once again turned my head to her. "Um, please get inside. I'm going to prepare some drink or something… Would tea be fine for you?"

She darted her eyes to me once I said that. "There's no need to!"

Her sudden outburst startled me. "It's okay! I'll feel bad if I don't prepare anything for you."

"Let me help, then," she said at last. "Is that okay?"

Her eyes are on my own. Determination is clear on her face, it's like she's not letting me to say 'no' at all. Seeing that she's insisting so much, I'll feel even worse if I don't let her help. In the end, I decided to give in. "It's just a tea, Miku-san. But if you're insisting that much, I'll feel really bad saying no," I said while laughing lightly.

She broke the eye contact abruptly as she tried to avert her eyes somewhere else, looking completely flustered. "It's… It's not like that! I mean, you said that your parents are away so there's no one who will help you with it, and Rin-san… looks kinda tired so I think I could help…"

"O-oh?" I am at loss for words because I didn't think she would notice my red eyes. It's true that I really couldn't fall back asleep after last night's event, but I probably shouldn't make her worried. "I'm alright, but it's okay if Miku-san wants to help. I really appreciate that."

She looks delighted at my response to her offer. It seems the idea of being able to help me brings a relief to her, for a reason I cannot fully understand. But as long as she's smiling, then it's not a matter for me.

* * *

After preparing some drink and snacks, we are back in my room, sitting on the carpet while working on a display board. I'm currently writing down a short explanation about the topic we're discussing. From the corner of my eyes, I can see Miku-san flipping through pages of a novel, marking parts that we can discuss in our project.

"Actually it's somewhat interesting," I said in the middle of writing. "Love is just a word, but it's hard to explain what that word actually means."

Putting her hand between pages to prevent the book from flipping by itself, Miku-san turned her attention to me. "That's right. People might define that word differently, and," she looked back to the book, "express it differently, too."

"Well, looking at those expressions can be a way to understand their thoughts about love. We can't read people's minds, after all."

It became silent. The sounds of my marker scratching the paper and the pages she's flipping are the only ones filling the room. Miku-san continues to flip through the book without saying anything, and at that point I decided to go back to my writing. She seems to be totally engrossed in the book to be having even a simple talk.

She might look like she's hard to work with at the first glance, maybe because she's generally silent and not talkative, but actually she's a really reliable person. Just earlier, I was surprised that she's willing to help me with preparing snacks and drinks, and she's really good at it, too. And during this whole work, she has been really helpful as well, stating out her ideas and whatnot. Although that was as expected as we're working together in a group, I wasn't expecting that much from her.

"I wonder if all of these are really the same thing called love."

Hearing the sudden voice, I stopped my hands and turned my attention to her. I saw her still looking at the book, but the serious look on her face is replaced by a conflicted one. She seemed to notice my glance, however, and she quickly shook her head as she smiled at me. "Never mind."

She closed her book and put it away, then she went to pull a sheet of paper and placed it right in front of her. Before she could proceed to do something else with the paper, I took the chance to ask, "Miku-san is done with the novel?"

"Yup," she nodded. "I think this is enough for now… but we can look for some more data in case we need them later."

Hearing that, I looked back at my writing immediately. "I'm still not done with this. Sorry that I'm taking too long…"

"It's alright! Just take your time, Rin-san!" she quickly replied. "I can do something else while waiting."

She might have said that, but I'd still feel bad anyway so I tried to quicken my pace. I usually have no problem with writing, but having to write in huge letters makes me become extra careful with it.

After one final stroke, I put my marker away as I am done with the writing. I was going to tell Miku-san that I'm done when I saw her already busied with something else. She seems to be drawing on the paper she took before.

"Miku-san, what are you doing?"

"O-oh, this?" She seemed startled by my call. Maybe she was really absorbed into it. "I was thinking that maybe we can give them illustrations. So as we explain, there's a picture they can see."

"That's a nice idea, but I really didn't think you would go that far to make some hand-drawn illustration yourself…" I muttered to myself while taking a better look on her drawing. Her drawing is clearly drawn, and I can see that she's not hesitating from the straight-forward lines drawn on the paper. It's like she's used with it already. "I knew Miku-san is really good at this, after all."

"N-not really… I'm still trying to improve my drawing, so saying that I'm really good at something I'm still learning is—"

"But I really mean it, that's really cool, Miku-san," I told her. "I've never imagined myself being able to draw something like that. Did you learn it by yourself?"

"No, I…"

She stopped on her word. Then slowly she looked away, her eyes are back to the drawing in front of her. The pen she used to draw is on the floor, untouched. She doesn't pick it up to continue her drawing; she only stared at it. While looking at her own drawing, she smiled.

She's smiling, but sadness is clearly reflected in her eyes.

"Someone taught me. Someone… dear to me."

That sad smile says something; I can tell just by a single glance. But I don't need to tell her that I understand, and I don't need to _ask_ her anything about it because I really don't want to upset her even more.

But she said something to me, at last.

"Hey, Miku-san."

She turned her head to me right away. "What is it, Rin-san?"

I stole a glance at her before looking away again. "We're… friends, right?" I asked her. "I was thinking if maybe I could call you Miku-chan."

Through my peripheral vision, I saw her staying still. She's not saying anything; she only continues to look at me without making even the slightest movement. I thought she might not agree with my idea and I want to apologize about that, but then her voice came into my hearing.

"I'd be happy," she said. I turned to see her face brimming with happiness, something she cannot keep to herself. "Then, may I call you… Rin-chan?"

And I just can't keep my happiness to myself as well. "Of course, Miku-chan!"

* * *

 _Next Update: December 1, 2017_

 _Thank you for reading!_

* * *

HibikiSukai — Aha, I didn't think you'd still be around. Yes, this is a rewrite with some minor changes. Thank you for leaving a review!


	4. Chapter 4

Before I could even take in the scenery laid before my eyes, I came face-to-face with a familiar person. Noticing my presence, he gave me a warm look with his blue eyes while his playful voice came into my hearing.

"Good evening," he said with a smile. "I hope I get the greeting right."

Instead of closing the distance between us, I stood still on my feet. Something is certainly different this time. I saw no glass tiles. Instead, wooden tiles cover up the whole place, creaking every time I step down on it. The sky doesn't stretch as far as my vision goes; in fact, I'm seeing no sky, as the place is surrounded by walls and topped by a roof.

This looks like a room. Almost the entirety of the furniture is made from wood—from the cabinet on the corner to the coffee table placed just beside a single sofa on one side of the room. With lamps emitting warm white light, it creates an overall cozy and warm atmosphere.

In the middle of the room is another set of sofa, with a table placed in the middle. A carpet large enough to cover the whole set is placed over the wooden tiles. There appears to be nothing on the table, but he's sitting there… while looking at me.

"You again…" I muttered once my eyes traveled back to his figure.

"Isn't that supposed to be my line? I've been here longer than you do, you know."

His words piqued my curiosity. "What do you mean? Have you always been here?"

"Well, I guess you can put it that way," he said. Then suddenly he straightened up, realizing something he didn't before. "Oh, please have a seat, by the way. We can just talk casually, you know."

He's looking at me with high anticipation that makes me unable to say no, but not that I'm going to. I _need_ to have a talk with him, after all. So, taking his offer, I started to walk around slowly to take a seat across him.

I turned my head to him once I've seated, and I found him looking at me. With his head on his hands, propped on his legs, he's watching me intensely as his blue eyes scan me thoroughly. I tried to do the same, finding nothing different with his appearance now and then. However, only this time I get the chance to look closely at his face, his… rather pale face. Almost ghastly, but his lively, shining bright eyes say otherwise.

I broke my gaze from him, turning my attention to my surroundings. "Is this a dream, too?" I asked him.

"You're right," he answered with a slight nod.

"But this isn't…" This isn't the kind of dream I saw before, I wanted to say, but he cut me before I could go on.

"Ah, you're probably wondering how this dream isn't as empty as what you saw before," then he paused. "Well, this is my dream."

I looked at him while trying to connect the dots. He doesn't like saying the clearest things, I noticed. That would mean that I am now seeing his dream, just like how I saw Miku-chan's dream before. But back then, I couldn't interact with the Miku-chan in the dream at all—all that I could do was see, unlike this.

"Then I shouldn't be able to communicate with you, no?" I asked in confusion.

For a moment, he looked at me without saying anything, but he opened his mouth at last. "Oh, I see where you're coming from. That girl's dream, isn't it?"

He leaned back to the sofa before continuing with his explanation. "No. Rather than being my dream in the 'dream that I have' sense, this is actually a place I made in this dream. That's why I call it that."

"You made this place?" I asked in awe. I can tell that this place is a well-thought one with the way everything is arranged, but _how_ he did it is something that doesn't cross my mind. "Who are you, exactly?"

He pulled a mischievous smile before going on. "Since you seem so eager to know the answer to that question, let me give a little hint, then," he said. "Just like you, I'm someone who walks through the dreams."

Just like me, he said, but I don't exactly know what _that_ is. I decided to go on with the questions. "How did you make this place, then? You have some kind of power or…?"

I deliberately left my words hanging. I really don't need to continue my words—I don't even know what I'm talking about. Things like special power was never in my mind, even in my wildest fantasies. I almost could not believe myself when I actually let the words slip out of my mouth.

"If you're talking about powers, then yes. Why not?" Then he stood up from the sofa. I was already readying myself to follow him when he gave me a look. "It's something you should have as well."

I stopped on my track. My whole attention is on him, who again, only gave me a smile as he placed a hand on the sofa back. "Not everyone can reach this place. In fact, you're the first person I see walking in the dreams like this, excluding myself of course."

He resumed his walk, going around the room as he observed the entirety of the room. I found myself unmoving, but my eyes followed his movement. He looked indifferent and rather calm even after he confessed that I am the only person he has seen walking in the dreams, it's like he's having no suspicions towards me even though I am a complete stranger to him.

But in a place this peaceful, even I would feel wrong to hold such suspicions.

I broke my gaze from him, landing my eyes to the empty table in front of me. And finally, I opened my mouth.

"I really don't know why I am here," I told him. "You said that it's something I should know, but I really don't understand, no matter how many times you keep on telling me. I… just end up here, somehow."

What power is it? And how does that power work? But no, forget it. Even if that power does exist, I see absolutely no reason why I should have it. I don't see any reason why I should be here, either, even if I _do_ have the power.

"Well, I'm just as clueless as you, if not more clueless than you. After all, it is _you_ who we're talking about," he said. "How else should I help you?"

He's right. He wouldn't know it better than me; it's something I should try to figure it out myself.

Suddenly his voice came into my hearing again. "Is it that bad?" he asked.

Furrowing my brows, I asked back, "What is?"

"Not knowing," he answered short while taking back the seat across mine. He searched for my eyes before continuing, "It looks like you're not letting go before you can figure it out."

"Well, that's…"

What came out from his mouth after that was a light chuckle. "I kinda understand your feeling, but I think that it's not a bad idea to try to figure things out, either," he said. "Well, if it's not possible to understand everything at once, then you can try to do it slowly. Everything will surely come to you in the end."

And I couldn't help but looking at his face when he said that. There is that reassuring look on his face that erases all my doubts. Surely it's not going to be easy, but I'll certainly figure everything out.

"Right. Sorry that I kept on nagging you," I said.

"No problem. You don't need to apologize for that," he said. "And also, I'll be here if you ever need me. It might be something that you must figure out by yourself, but don't think that you're alone in this."

"Thanks," I nodded.

It was a short exchange, but I feel like a weight has been lifted from my mind. My problem is far from being solved, but by knowing that I don't have to figure out everything at once, or trying to understand it all by myself, it eases my mind.

I can still feel his gaze on me; it's like he's waiting for other words from me. I would like to say something just to break the silence that has taken place, but nothing really crosses my mind. If it's not questions about this place or the entirety of this dream, what else should I say to him?

"Can I still ask you something, though?" I finally said.

"Go on," he told me. An interested look is on his face as he's waiting for me to continue. "I'll try my best to help, if it's something I can help you with."

"Actually, it's about this place." I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. "How is this place different with the dream I saw before? The empty dream where I met you before, with the bright, white sky and the glass tiles."

Slowly nodding, he answered me, "I see."

Those were the only words out from his mouth before he stood up again and started walking slowly. Before I knew it, he is standing next to me, with a hand extended out to me.

"Shall I show you, then?"

* * *

We are back in the empty space of the dream. After seeing a full-furnished room, this place seems very empty in comparison. The sky is the same as ever, not even a single splotch staining the pure, white sky. Under my feet is the glass-like tiles that I can see my reflection on.

I momentarily forgot about the hand that was holding mine, and only realized it when he slipped his hand away slowly, releasing his hold. "We're here," he said.

We're here, indeed, in just a blink of eye. The moment I took his hand, the scenery disappeared. Just like erasing a picture on a sheet of paper, all that left is the whiteness filling my field of vision. The room and all of its inside disappeared as if it never exists in the first place.

Still staring in disbelief, I let my hand fall to my side. A soft chime that rang throughout the space when I took a step woke me up from my reverie. Turning my head to the person standing next to me, I slowly opened my mouth, letting the word out yet again. "How?"

"How?" he repeated after me. "Well, since I'm the one who made that place in the first place, I can go and leave as I will."

"O-oh, I see."

He then smiled to me before walking ahead of me. Before he turned away, however, I managed to catch the apparent hint of amusement on his face. "Let's look around for someone's dream."

I know that it's not really an option to stay behind, so I quickly tried to catch up with him before our distance grow even farther. Once I got closer to him, I slowed down my pace, trotting slowly just right behind him.

The walk goes on for a while. Even though neither of us are saying a word, the ringing sound following our footsteps filled in the silence—it's almost like they're singing along with us.

While still walking in a steady pace, my eyes are on his back since nothing seems to come into sight just yet. I looked at his tied-up hair, swaying so slightly in rhythm with his steps. The blond color of his hair seems to reflect the light, making it look more vibrant, like it's shining. It is truly a beautiful color, matching perfectly with his blue eyes.

I was caught off guard when he suddenly stopped dead in his track and turned his head around. I thought it was my stare that made him turn his attention but I seem to be wrong, as it looks like he's looking at something far away.

Before I could ask him about what is going on, a nagging feeling disrupted my thoughts. I can feel something. It's like something is wrong, but I can't tell what. I don't even know where the feeling came from, but it's bothering me so much.

"You feel it too, don't you," without averting his eyes, he asked me, his voice sharp and unfaltering.

I threw my gaze to him, finding no right word to express my puzzlement. He's still looking at that one particular direction a moment before finally taking off, heading straight to the direction he has been looking at. Nothing seems to deter him, not even the weird feeling engulfing the atmosphere. Despite my mind telling me not to go, I decided to follow him yet again.

The more we walk, the more the sky becomes darker, to the point where the white sky is no more. It's nothing but darkness, looming above us. I thought that it's not possible for such thing to happen in this place, but I was proven wrong. Totally wrong. I don't even feel at ease anymore—this isn't a serene place with no single feeling of fear, this isn't the dream I saw before.

Despite that, he keeps on walking forward. I wanted to ask him just what _is_ actually happening but I can't; not while he's still going ahead without any sign of stopping like this.

And finally, a figure came into my sight, along with bodiless hands that are trying to grasp her. In the darkness, I can see the faint hue of blue of her hair—and the horrified expression on her face. She's trying to back away, but her attempt seems futile as those hands keep on coming closer and closer to her, no matter how far she tried to get away.

Suddenly a hand sprang forward, trying to reach for her neck. I can see the fear reflected clearly in her turquoise eyes a moment before the hand came into contact with her.

Widening my eyes, I let out a shriek.

 _"_ _Miku-chan!"_

* * *

 _Next Update: December 11, 2017_

 _Thank you for reading!_

* * *

Guest — I'll try my best, thank you for the support.


	5. Chapter 5

As if my feet had a mind of their own, I dashed to where Miku-chan is. With my hand extended forward, I tried to stop the hand from reaching for her neck, but I was beyond surprised when I could only grasp the thin air instead of the hand. My hand, no, my body went straight through them, and I tumbled to the ground just right beside her.

Quickly, I recovered from my fall, and I turned around just to see my attempt went futile—that hand is still trying to reach for Miku-chan. Still in a total confusion, I shot a glance at the blond boy who did nothing but watching the scene from a distance. The look on his face is rather indifferent, but there are hints of bewilderment expressed through his parted mouth and furrowed brows.

I almost shouted at him. In this state of helplessness, there was nothing left for me to do but calling for help, whosever it is. But then I heard it, his voice, calling out calmly in the middle of the commotion.

"Sweet dreams."

The soft ringing sound that has been absent from my hearing resounded. The moment it happened, the darkness burst just like a popped bubble, disappearing into nothing. The sudden light that came back to my vision almost blinded me, and I was forced to squeeze my eyes shut.

Despite that, I can feel that the tightening feeling in my chest is now completely gone. It's almost like the threat from before disappeared along with the darkness. While still being not sure with what is currently going on, I cracked my eyes open.

Miku-chan's smile greeted me. It's a vibrant smile, shining as bright as the now-warm white sky. The cause of her smile was a mystery until I saw what has now taken place. I almost couldn't believe my own eyes; this place has been transformed into a flower garden. The flowers' vibrant yellow petals emit a shy glow, and along with its fresh green leaves they fill up the ground. There's not even an inch of spot without a flower sprouting on it. And as far as I can see, there's not even a single hint of threat is visible—they were really gone.

My attention then went back to the lone figure standing over the heap of flowers, with his feet passing through the shrubs instead of stepping on it; I noticed that he has been watching the whole scene from that very same spot. Relief is written all over his face as he looks at the changing scenery, but there's also something in his eyes, like… sincerity, as he looks at Miku-chan's bright expression.

Finally, he noticed me looking at him. He then smiled at me in return.

* * *

He took me back to the room from before. Just like the way it disappeared, the room reappeared seemingly out of nowhere just in a blink of eye. I actually can't tell if it's the room that appears and disappears, or it's us who gets teleported here and out, but that's the least of my concern.

Back to the sofa in the middle of the room, we're sitting across each other like earlier. Wasting no time, he leant forward towards me and opened his mouth to ask me a question. "I thought you were aware of the dream's nature? You mentioned about not being able to communicate with someone in the dream, after all."

"Yeah, but," I paused. He's right; I should have known that I wouldn't be able to do anything back then, but I couldn't help it. It was something that I did without thinking. "I just find my feet moving by its own. I couldn't even think straight, so when I saw her in danger like that, I just…"

As I let my words trail off, he landed his eyes on me. It didn't take long for him to conclude, "You know her."

"Yes. She's… someone dear to me," I said, shifting my gaze elsewhere. "So thank you, for saving her from those hands. I mean, that flower garden was your doing, I suppose?"

He nodded slowly. A somewhat thoughtful look took over his previously neutral expression. "You see, I never like seeing her suffering in her nightmare, so I always make sure that she's having a nice dream."

My eyes widened after hearing his statement. Never like seeing her suffering… I hold that very same feeling. But what kind of reason does he have for that when it doesn't seem that he knows her?

A light laugh escaped from his mouth. "Actually it's kinda weird. I don't think I even know her, but there's this oddly familiar feeling when I see her smile. It's like… I used to see that smile before. I'm not too sure myself."

For a moment, he stayed still. It seems that he's thinking about the situation he doesn't seem to be able to explain. But it didn't take long for a smile to appear again on his face—the gentle smile that reached his eyes.

"But even so, I want to protect her smile. Maybe it's kinda selfish of me, but I want to keep on seeing her smile."

"No, she…" I started, but stopping myself immediately when I realized myself blurting out words just like that. Although, at second thought, there's nothing wrong with saying it. "She must have liked that. I thought… she doesn't need to go through that kind of dream, so she must be very thankful of that. Thank you."

His reaction was a mixture of surprise and joy. It's clearly written on his face that he was not expecting a gratitude from me. "Well, I don't think I should be having that gratitude, but you're welcome," he said.

It's my turn to smile back at him. It just calms my heart to see his honest expressions. "But I thought you're pretty knowledgeable about this place. I mean, you can even turn a bad dream into a nice dream with just a word. It's a surprise for me that there's even a thing that you don't know."

"Well, of course," he chuckled while saying that. "I'm no one special here. You probably can pull off something like that as well if you weren't in such a panic."

I blinked hearing his words. "Really?"

"Of course, why not?"

That left me in a thought. For me to change the dream like that; maybe I could save Miku-chan from the bad dreams. I also want to protect that smile and make it last forever, after all.

I can still feel his gaze on me while the silence passed. I wonder if he sees me the way I see him—a mysterious figure in the dream. He said that he has never seen anyone else before, but he seems rather calm seeing me around like this. I really have no idea, though.

"You know," he suddenly opened his mouth and started a conversation again. Before he did, he leant back to the sofa to relax himself; his eyes are still on me, however. "Just call me Len."

"H-huh?" I stammered out. I wasn't expecting him to suddenly say something like that—I thought he was going to stay all secretive about who he is, so I didn't think he's going to say anything, let alone a name. Nevertheless, I nodded. "Okay then, Len-san."

"Oh, no need for the 'san.' Just Len," he quickly corrected me.

"A-are you sure about that?" I asked, hesitant about his consent to be called with just his name, especially by a stranger like me.

"Of course," he said. "It's not like those kind of things matter in here."

"Right…" I finally gave in, finding justification in his reasoning. It might feel really weird, since I'm not used to call people I barely know just by their names like that, but I guess there's no harm in it. "You can call me Rin, then."

"Rin… Just like the ringing sound, isn't it? That's a nice name," he told me.

With a gasp of intake, I found myself back in my room. My shot-wide eyes flew right to the window where I can see the soft light that has begun to seep through the curtains. The morning has come; it is the time to start the day.

I heaved a sigh. That was a long night, but it sure went in a blink of eye. But rather than being upset over the fact that the morning has come yet again, I am more disappointed that the dream has just come into an abrupt end. It simply ended without a notice, and when I knew it I am already here.

The last thing I heard was his lighthearted voice, saying that my name is a nice name; like the ringing sound. That person I saw in my dreams… his name is Len.

I didn't even have the chance to thank him for the compliment.

* * *

The day goes as normal.

The school hallway is surprisingly empty during the class session. This shouldn't be a surprise for anyone, but thinking on how people are sitting still in their seats and leaving the hallway completely clear like this is quite a something. It is pretty crammed during the break time, after all.

I'm usually seated in the class as well around this hour, but the teacher has given us the time to finish our presentation project during this literature class session. Having finished our work already, Miku-chan and I are freed from the task. Basically we earned ourselves a free time right at this moment, which is a good thing.

I was thinking about spending the time with Miku-chan, but she's nowhere to be found. There's only a few of students staying in the class, since the teacher let us do the work wherever we want—and as a result, most student left the class—but Miku-chan is not there amongst them.

My steps halted when I heard a soft… scratching? I turned my head and found the door to the art room open. From here, I can see a figure hunching over the table, seems to be working on something. That figure is familiar; is that Miku-chan?

On a closer look, it is really Miku-chan. Her back is facing me, but looking from her gestures, she seems to be drawing something. She's really absorbed into it that she doesn't seem to notice me entering the room, but the good thing is, she looks to be happy.

"Miku-chan is rather happy lately. Did something good happen?"

With a surprised jump, she turned her body around to see me. "O-oh, Rin-chan! I… didn't expect that you'd be here."

"Well, actually I was looking at you, and I just happen to pass by and found you here," I told her. "I should have guessed that you'd be here, it's really Miku-chan-like to come to this place…"

"That being said, I don't come here often. But it just happens to be empty right now," she said, leaving the note hanging. She looks as though she just realized something. "Oh, is there anything you need for the project, Rin-chan? I thought we were finished already so I just left the class… I'm sorry for that."

"It's not about that, actually. No need to feel sorry," I reassured her. "I just want to see Miku-chan."

Her expression changed when she heard that. "Oh, I… I see," she said. Then, she looked away from me, her eyes back to the table in front of her.

I followed where her eyes go, which is her drawing. Drawn on a sheet of paper is a field full of flowers. In the middle of the drawing is a short-haired girl, sitting amongst the flowers with a big smile on her face. The scenery is certainly not foreign for me—it is certainly the dream from the night before, put beautifully into a piece of paper.

Apparently, she noticed me staring at her drawing. She opened her mouth before I could ask her anything, "It was a dream I had. There was a field of flowers, stretching as far as I could see, and I was in the middle of it. The sky above was bright, and… It was a wonderful dream that I don't want to forget, so I thought that it's a good idea to put it into a drawing."

I couldn't help but smiling hearing her story. "That's good to hear."

"Yeah," she nodded. "Lately, I've been having a lot of nice dreams. It's a wonder how it could happen, but… I'm happy."

Something stirred inside of me when I heard that. It's a weird feeling, but it's not a bad one. Nice dreams? Was it possibly Len's doing? He said that he makes sure that she's having a nice dream… It is really true, isn't it?

But either way, I am happy to hear those words coming out from Miku-chan's mouth. It wasn't even me who brings her a nice dream, but I can't help but feeling happy myself. That smile…

 _"_ _I want to protect her smile. Maybe it's kinda selfish of me, but I want to keep on seeing her smile."_

Her smile really is precious, isn't it?

Miku-chan has gone through a hardship; and she doesn't need to suffer anymore, not even in her dreams. That's why, I too, will try to protect that smile.

* * *

 _Next Update: January 21, 2018_

 _Thank you for reading!_

* * *

Hibiki-Sukai — I'm happy hearing that! I hope you enjoy this version of the story as well.

SparkyBubbles — I'll try my best, thank you for leaving a review!


	6. Chapter 6

I can see a lone figure standing in a distance. Towering high above her is the clear sky and underneath her feet is the glass-like surface; nothing else comes to my sight. It's empty as far as I can see, except for her, the girl with teal hair and turquoise eyes.

I cannot see much from where I am standing, but even that is enough for me to recognize her mysteriously familiar figure. Her long teal hair is thrown in a disarray as the invisible wind blows, but her feet are rooted firm on the ground as she stares ahead the faraway sky.

 _Ring_ …

The sound echoes throughout the place as I took a single step forward. She, however, seems oblivious with the sound. It seems like she's in her own dreams, just like usually. But this dream of hers looks so empty, unlike the usual clear depictions of trees, grasses, and many other kinds of scenery. Even though I don't sense any kind of threat surrounding her dream, it's… odd. It's peaceful that it's odd.

If this is a good dream, then what makes it a good dream?

She suddenly turned her head to my direction, and she widened her eyes at the sight. A smile broke on her face, freeing itself from all the worries and fear. Just like a flower in a full bloom, the smile grew wide on her face. With that, she started running towards me.

I watched as her figure gets closer and closer until she's a mere inch away from me. But I know no matter how close she is, or how close _I_ am, she cannot see me. So when she gets here, she'll simply go through, like…

 _Dash._

… Like I'm not here.

I smiled at the realization that she has, indeed, gone through me. It's nothing new; I shouldn't be surprised of it. And with that kind of thought, I turned around to continue to watch over her figure—

And my eyes widened.

* * *

The transition between summer and fall always make me feel a tad uncomfortable. Half of it is from knowing that summer is almost ending, and the other half is perhaps from the change of weather. After being bathed in the scorching sunlight during summer, comes the inevitable breeze of cool air. This happens every single year without exception, but I just can't help but feeling melancholic every time.

Even the walk to the school feels a little different. I wouldn't find the reddening leaves hanging on the tree last week; and the air feels colder. I know we'll be changing to our long-sleeved uniforms soon.

As I continued to take in the scenery, I felt something bumped on my shoulder. Startled, I turned my head to see what that is. It was a person, it seems, judging from the way it bumped me—and I can smell the faint scent of a sweet perfume.

"I am so sorry, Kagamine-chan!" was what came into my hearing before I could actually see the person. Sure enough, I came face-to-face with a classmate; she's clasping her hands altogether while lowering her head in an apologetic manner.

Her exaggerated apology makes me feel bad myself. With an awkward wave, I tried to tell her, "It's okay, Megurine-chan!"

With that, she looked up at my face. Her peach-pink fringes fell all over her face from bowing down, and reflected in her blue eyes is a worry. "Really?"

I nodded, "Yeah. But be careful, Megurine-chan. You might hurt yourself if you're not cautious."

"I-I know that," she replied, her face slightly pink from embarrassment.

While she's still fidgeting, I found myself staring at her. Megurine-chan always has this striking appearance—from her high ponytail, voluminous curled-up pink locks, colorful hairpins, she's more-less what people call as a _gal_. But despite her rather playful look, Megurine-chan is also known for her clumsiness. She's pretty contradicting, I could say.

"Megurine-chan is early," I pointed out.

"I'm pretty nervous about today's presentation, I can't stay calm at home."

I nodded in agreement. Actually I'm pretty confident about today's presentation because Miku-chan and I have done our best preparation, but I can't say that I'm not nervous. It's not everyday you have to stand in front of the class and explain things, after all. "Me too," I said. "Hopefully I wouldn't mess up."

Then suddenly she exclaimed at me, "That's why! I brought a special charm with me today!"

Raising my eyebrows, I followed where her eyes go—the strap of her bag. "I don't know if you believe in superstitious things like this, but bringing a charm with me makes me feel… Huh?"

She suddenly stopped on her words. Her eyes became wide as she seems to just have realized something. "What is wrong?" I asked her.

Megurine-chan whipped her head to the road behind us. And with an upset look, she exclaimed, "It fell off?!"

"Huh?!"

* * *

We ended up retracing the route to look for the said charm. Luckily enough, the charm was still unscathed on the ground when we found it—and Megurine-chan was more than pleased at the discovery.

"I thought it was gone for good…" she said with a delighted smile on her face. "Thank you for helping me out, Kagamine-chan."

"It's just… I think it might be precious for you, so I thought I should help you out… Although at the end I did nothing but following you, Megurine-chan. After all, I didn't know which route you took before," I admitted truthfully.

She shook her head in disapproval. "More importantly, you decided to go with me instead of ditching me to the school, sooo… thank you!"

It's hard not to feel lifted seeing her energetic manner, although I have to admit that this amount of energy is perhaps too much for me; it is kind of blinding in a way.

"Yeah, I'm glad that we found the charm," I said. "It's a somewhat peculiar charm. That certainly doesn't come from Japan, no?"

Megurine-chan then raised the charm to her eye level. It's a simple charm of feathers hanging down on a rope-like string. It is also adorned with some beads, which makes it look more exotic. "This? Yeah, it somehow reminds you of a dreamcatcher but it's not really it."

Only lately the word dream takes more of my attention. "A dreamcatcher?"

"You know, the top shaped like a ring with strings inside of it, like a spider web," she drew the shape on the air with her fingers, "and there are some feathers and beads hanging down from this part."

"I can picture that," I told her. It's my first time hearing it, but it's not something hard to imagine.

"Yeah, but this… really has nothing to do with dreams, though. I don't really know myself—I think I'm making my own belief here," she said with a nervous smile.

"Well, as long as you believe in it, I don't think it actually matters," I laughed. "Good luck with the presentation, Megurine-chan!"

"Same to you, Kagamine-chan!"

With that, we started to walk back to the school. Even with the backtrace, there's still plenty of time to walk in leisure; thankfully the charm didn't fall really far away. Besides, we both were pretty early to begin with.

"How is your project going?" Megurine-chan suddenly started a conversation. "I heard that you're paired with Hatsune-chan."

I threw a glance to her and answered, "It's going well. What is it?"

"Oh?" she said with her eyebrows slightly raised. "Well, you know the rumors about Hatsune-chan; that one about when she flat out rejected her classmate when they tried to help back in the first year, so, yeah, I'm just curious."

She paused to give me an apologetic smile. "But that rumor isn't true, isn't it?"

The memories from that day flooded back to me; an exchange I heard with my own ears. "No, that's… actually true. I was passing by so I heard it myself."

"Eh? So what happened, then?" Megurine-chan asked, but a moment after she added, "Never mind, actually. As long as everything is going well for Hatsune-chan, then I'm glad."

"Yeah," I nodded to her words.

I can feel her stare at me as she lets a moment pass; before she finally came up with something. "Hatsune-chan is really lucky to be paired with you, Kagamine-chan. Your kindness is a kind of something, you know?"

My face reddened at her compliment. "Well, I just… I just want to help," I said. "Even though she said that back then, I'm sure she didn't mean it. I'm sure that… it's what Miku-chan wants as well."

And without saying anything, Megurine-chan smiled at me.

* * *

It hadn't been long since I started to approach Miku-chan myself.

"Hatsune-san, isn't it?" I greeted her in one clear morning during spring. "I'm Kagamine Rin. I hope we can get along well."

Her eyes widened at the sight of me—and right at that moment, she turned away to avoid my gaze. "What for?" she silently asked.

I gulped. I knew about the rumor already; I had heard it for countless of times that she's a loner, socially distant girl who doesn't like to interact to anyone. I should have known that she would give that kind of answer, but hearing that answer myself felt totally different. Nevertheless, I wasn't going to stop just like that.

"Um, well, we're classmates starting from now on," I told her, "so maybe it would be nice if we can get along. Besides, I would like to know Hatsune-san better."

She stayed unmoving. It didn't seem like she was going to actually give a response, until her soft voice came into my hearing, "There's absolutely no need for that, even though we're classmates."

Then, she hastily stood up from her desk. Her gaze was shifted down to the ground while still avoiding any eye contact with me. "I'm sorry," she said before walking away and leaving the class.

My eyes followed her figure as she departed. It was exactly like what the rumor said; she rejected me like how she rejected the others before. But as I watched her back, I could see the loneliness weighing her slim frame. I wondered why, the way she rejected me was not any different with the others, but somehow I could see something amiss.

Maybe because I had seen her crying before.

And with that, I followed the figure that had become a glimpse in the middle of the crowd. The thought then filled up my mind as I tried to catch up with her—her words were in no way an honest expression. She _did_ cry after all. And as someone who witnessed that myself, I really should try to reach her and tell her that…

"Hatsune-san!"

Her steps halted. She turned her head in a quick motion when I finally get a grasp of her hand. For a moment, I could see the surprise on her face before it quickly vanished, turning into an indifferent look once she recognized me.

I took the chance to tell her, "But I saw you crying last time."

Something in her eyes changed—something visible, yet hidden in the depth of her heart. Despite of that, her expression remained the same, which then led to her reply that said, "That has nothing to do with you."

With that, she released my hand and continued to walk ahead, leaving me standing in the crowd by myself. She brushed me off, even after I tried to reach her.

However, a moment before she pulled her hand away, I could feel it shaking in anxiety.

* * *

 _Next Update: January 31, 2018_

 _Thank you for reading!_


	7. Chapter 7

"That ends our presentation."

When I looked up after bowing down, I can see the class giving an applause. I can feel relief washing over me at the sight, because we're not only finishing our project by going through the entirety of it, but also getting a positive feedback from our classmates.

As the sound goes on, I turned my head to Miku-chan who's standing next to me. I can see her still looking at the rest of the class with a face of astonishment. But before I could observe more of her, the teacher cut off, "We are now done with today's project presentation. Good work, everyone. For the ones who haven't had their turns yet, make sure to prepare it well before the next session."

After we did the greetings, the teacher left the class, marking the end of the session—or rather, the day, because that was the last session. The class broke into the usual chatters immediately after that, with most of the students talking about how they are glad for having completed their project. Actually I cannot say much about it. After all, it's something better explained through facial expressions rather than words, like how I cannot hold myself from smiling.

From the corner of my eyes, I noticed Miku-chan watching the class as she's putting her stuffs into her bag. She looks relieved with a thin smile showing on her face. I know that she had done her best in both preparing the project and doing the presentation earlier, so the outcome must have delighted her.

A girl, already with a bag on her shoulder, is passing by Miku-chan's desk as she's heading to the door. I didn't pay much attention to her until I heard her saying, "That was really great, Hatsune-chan!"

Of course, those words made me turn my head to Miku-chan's desk. The girl has already passed by, but I can still see her giving a small wave to Miku-chan with a kind smile on her face.

Something stirred in my stomach, but it's not an unpleasant feeling. It feels ticklish, like bubbles popping inside. It is unbelievable that the sight alone makes me feel this bubbly inside; and besides, it's 'just' a girl, greeting Miku-chan despite all the rumors, but maybe that is why I feel this gladdened.

But then I saw Miku-chan smiling a pure, genuine smile as she called back at the girl, "Thank you very much!"

For a moment, the time seems to be slowing down. I can feel flowers blooming inside of my heart at the rare sight—a sight that is very precious to me. It's strange, it's mysterious; Miku-chan is the one who should be happy, but here I am, cherishing the moment.

I want to keep on seeing that smile, after all.

After a moment of watching from afar, I made my way to Miku-chan's desk, not without bringing my bag along. I approached her, then asked, "Miku-chan, do you want to walk home together today?"

"Oh, Rin-chan," she looked away from her bag, her hand stopping its movement from putting in her books. For a moment, she seemed to be thinking of something before answering me, "Sure, that would be great. I mean, I'm free today, so…"

Considering that she usually declines my offer, hearing that answer from her is beyond great. "That's good, then," I said. "I want to spend more time today with Miku-chan, so hearing that makes me really happy."

"I-is that so?" she asked, her face showing a genuine surprised expression.

"Of course!"

* * *

"Thank you, Rin-chan."

Hearing Miku-chan's voice out of the blue made me turn my head to her almost immediately. "Huh? What is that for?"

"Well…" she trailed off while trying to avert her eyes somewhere else. "You have been a big help."

"Ah, sure," I replied. "But of course, you've been a big help as well, Miku-chan. We got a quite surprising feedback earlier—and I'm sure that we got to that point because of your ideas… I personally loved how our display looks like; your drawing really gives something to it."

Miku-chan's reaction is rather underwhelming; looking confused, even, perhaps from hearing all my blabbering. I quickly added, "Sorry that… I'm talking too much."

It was Miku-chan's turn to whip her head to me, "It's… It's not that!" she said. "Sure, our presentation went really well earlier, but I wasn't just talking about that."

She's looking away again, I noticed, but she isn't deliberately avoiding my gaze this time. She looks down to the concrete while we continue on our walk. "I meant, I was… no, I am feeling really happy right now. I'm not even sure how to put it in words, but…"

I waited for her to continue her words while taking a better look of her face. She has her eyes on the ground, but I can see her smiling. "Rin-chan has been really kind to me from the beginning of the school year," she said. "Somehow, I get the feeling that I wouldn't be feeling this way right now if you didn't come to me that time."

Hearing her words, I smiled. "That's not completely true. Even though I came to you that time, it was all your decision, Miku-chan," I told her. "But you know, it is not exactly because of you or because of me—it is because of everyone," I said, recalling the moment when the whole class cheered for our project, and especially the moment when our classmate greeted Miku-chan earlier.

"Right," she said at last. "I really couldn't thank you enough, though."

Before I had the chance to say anything, she had started talking again. "Lately, I've been seeing really nice dreams," she said. "I know I've told you this before, but last night's was really special for me. I can't help but thinking about it all day."

I can't help but feeling enthusiastic in hearing her story. She's never been this open before, after all. "What is it?"

"I met someone," she began. "Actually it's nothing more than that, but that person is really important to me. That's why, even though it was just a dream, I feel really happy about it."

I turned my head to her. Her eyes are still casted down to the ground, but I don't see her smile faltering. In fact, she looks really happy that it's hard for me to believe my own eyes—wasn't the last time I saw that smile in the dreams? This is not a dream, but it truly feels dreamlike.

While looking at her lively smile, I let my mind wander for a bit. I recall it well that this isn't the first time she said something about a someone important to her, but I wonder who that person is. Perhaps not 'who' in that sense, but 'what' that person is to Miku-chan. It must be someone she truly cherished; someone who is able to bring such a precious smile to her face, but I could only wonder about that person.

"But it's not only that," suddenly her voice came back into my hearing. "Somehow I could feel another presence there, as if there was someone else."

I can feel my eyes widening. Who is she talking about? Could it be Len?

"I don't know who it was, or what it was. But somehow it didn't scare me at all. Actually it made me feel at ease. It's as if… they were watching over me," she said with her gaze softening.

I wonder if that was really Len she was talking about. Sure, from the sounds of it, I could only guess that it was Len, even though I have no idea how that could happen. My guess is that she was inside of her own dream, but somehow she could feel Len watching… or is it? Regardless of how it happened, I'm glad that she's feeling that way.

She probably noticed me looking at her, because suddenly her expression changed, looking rather embarrassed at the realization. "I'm talking nonsense again, didn't I?" she said with face flushed red.

"Not at all," I answered her. "I think… Maybe there really is someone watching over you, someone protecting you in your dreams. That someone might really exist."

She looks surprised at my reply. "Do you think so?"

"Well, why not?" I gave her a reassuring smile. "There might be things in this world that we never know, after all."

She stares at me for a moment. Her face is riddled with questions, but she seems to be keeping it to herself as she said nothing to me. Although, a moment after, she opened her mouth again. "What do you think about dreams, Rin-chan?"

"Huh?" I questioned back. "You mean, the dream we see at night when we're sleeping?"

She nodded slowly. "Do you think there's any significances behind it? Or are those dreams… simply dreams that you wish to become true?"

A wistful look stayed on her face after she said that, making me wonder about her puzzling expressions. But what caught my attention the most is the question that has just escaped her mouth—what do I think about those dreams?

Those are things you see, you hear, you feel while you're asleep; it's what dreams are. But is that it? Isn't there any other meaning behind those dreams other than something you experience while sleeping?

Are those wishes? Are they trying to tell something? Questions like that has never crossed my mind before, even though I can do things most people can't in the dreams, which is seeing other people's dreams. But never once I think about the deeper meaning inside all of those dreams.

"I wonder what are those," I muttered. "I don't quite understand it myself. We might see good dreams or bad dreams, but I wonder… what those dreams are trying to tell us."

I can feel her eyes on me for a brief second before she looked away again. "I see," she answered short.

"But, you know," I started again. "Maybe those dreams itself could be a wish that has become true."

"What do you mean?"

"When someone said 'sweet dreams' to you, they're wishing you a good dream, right?" I said. "So when you see a nice dream, then it means that their wish has become true. So what I am saying is… the nice dreams that you've been seeing might be a realization of someone's wish."

Len's wish… isn't it? For her to keep on seeing good dreams.

She looks surprised with my words. I could see tears welling in her eyes in a flash before she blinked it away, returning me a smile instead. "If I'm about to say my gratitude, will it reach that person?"

"Sure it will," I assured her.

A gratitude is not even needed. Just by seeing that smile, he will surely understand just how thankful she is; that's what I'm thinking. But also by seeing that smile, I know that it's not only his dream that has come true, but also mine—my dream of seeing her smiling like that.

Miku-chan smiled at me for one last time before pointing out, "Rin-chan's house is going that way, right?"

"Ah, yeah," I said, slightly startled with the fact that I wasn't paying attention to the road. It feels like I was woken up from a daydream. But that was before I realized the implication in her words, "Miku-chan's house is on the opposite way?"

Slowly, she nodded. "I guess that's it for now."

"I guess so," I replied. "See you tomorrow, then, Miku-chan."

"See you," she said before starting to turn on her heels. She stopped herself, however. "Um, thank you for asking me to walk home together. I really had fun," she added.

"It's totally not a problem!" I said, couldn't help the small laughter that escaped my mouth. "I'm the one who should be thankful that you decided to come, Miku-chan! Maybe we can walk home together again sometime, how does that sound?"

"Sure, I'd be happy. I'll try to arrange my schedule," she said.

"No, it's fine. Anytime you have the chance to, Miku-chan," I told her.

"Ah, okay then, but I'll still try to free up my time. After all, I want to walk home with Rin-chan," she replied. Immediately after that, she lowered her head, seeming to try to hide her expression. "U-um, see you tomorrow."

With that, she waved at me and started to walk to the other way. I waved back at her. "See you!"

At last, I started to walk down the road to my house. Each of my step feels light, with no burden weighing it. Today was sure, a great day.

* * *

 _Next Update: February 11, 2018_

 _Thank you for reading!_


	8. Chapter 8

Not long after I closed my eyes and let the sleep lull me, I am met with a familiar scenery. The wooden floor underneath my bare feet doesn't feel cold at all despite the weather—that's a given, considering the fact that it's made of wood, but it seems like the place as a whole is not affected with the _actual_ weather. This is a dream, after all. Len's dream, to be exact.

It doesn't seem like anything have changed since the last time I was here, at least that's what I can conclude from my observation. The last time I was here was indeed, during my first visit, so I cannot tell much about it. To think of it, it has been a while since the last time I was here since I've been having dreamless nights lately. Nevertheless, to find out that things seem to stay under control brings me a peace of mind.

As expected, Len is sitting on the sofa just like before. Only this time, he appears to be doing something on a book instead of just sitting there and waiting for me. He did, however, avert his gaze to me once he noticed my presence.

"Good evening, Rin," he greeted with a kind smile.

"Len," I let his name roll out from my mouth before returning the greeting. "Good evening."

He put down his pencil—perhaps he was writing or drawing something with it—before continuing the conversation, "It has been a while."

"Yeah," I said. A smile bloomed on my face as I recalled our last meeting. "I didn't have the chance to thank you back then, for the compliment."

"Was it for that time when I said that your name is nice?" he questioned.

The fact that he remembers it in detail flustered me. I thought I was the only one who simply can't forget his exact words. 'That's a nice name,' he said, but I didn't expect him to say it again.

"Sorry if that came out rude," I told him. "I really wanted to say thank you, but…"

"You woke up," he filled me in. "But that's something you couldn't help. We don't really have the control of our physical body when we're here, so it's just that, you'd just find yourself suddenly waking up."

"I see," I said after hearing his short explanation.

He cleared his throat and shifted his gaze before going on, "Besides, I don't mind that much. I didn't say that for a 'thank you,' you know."

I flushed hearing his words. "But I'll feel really bad in return. It's just a common sense to thank someone for their compliment."

Raising his eyebrows, he gave me a bemused look. I thought he was going to disagree with me, but what he said next was the opposite of my expectation. "You got a point there," he said. And by saying that, I somehow could tell that he doesn't want to drag the matter even further.

His eyes then travelled back to me, my still standing upright figure. Noticing that, he made a gesture with his hand to the sofa across him, motioning me to take a seat. "I thought I don't need to ask you for the second time," he added.

I stole a nervous glance at him before finally seating myself on the sofa. As his eyes follow my movement, he talked again, "This is a home; just think about it that way, so make yourself at home."

Without saying anything, I nodded, even though it actually took a while to take in his words. Sure, from what can be seen in this place, it looks like an inside of a house. But for me to consider this dream—not this particular dream, but the dream world as a whole—as a home seems unlikely. Perhaps Len thinks differently of this place, since he has been in this dream longer than I. Maybe he has a kind of attachment that I don't have. I can say that knowing a place for a long time eventually makes you develop feelings for it, even though it's just a place.

Unknowingly, my eyes went back to him. What caught my eyes after that is the book on his lap. It's not the kind of book that you read; it has spiral binding on the top, and is rather large. It sure looks like a sketchbook.

"That is…?" I asked without actually saying a question. I simply pointed at the said book while questioning it, but I thought that is enough for him to understand.

"Oh," he said before proceeding to raise the book so it has the page facing on me. It's an empty page, though. "As you can see, this is a sketchbook. Don't mind about it."

The fact that he asked me not to mind about it makes me mind about it, but I can say that I would still mind even if he didn't say that. I did suspect him to be doing something in it before I arrived, and I can't let the thought off just like that. "Were you drawing something?"

He stared back to the book, examining it for a little while. Only after that he answered me, "Yeah, kind of. But I mean it—don't mind about it."

I wonder what sort of drawing he was making that it makes him say that, but I'm not going to push that further. "It didn't cross my mind that you draw."

"Well, it gets boring after a little while, you know," he began. "You're thrown into a dream and don't wake up as you will. I usually roam around to see other people's dream, but I'm aware that I shouldn't do it that much. It's other people's dream after all."

Hearing his saying, I suddenly become aware of our doings. As people who cross the dreams, we can see other people's dream and they won't realize it at all. This can even be considered as an act of invading someone's privacy to some extent. But at the same time, we can watch and make sure people are seeing good dreams, we can even turn bad dreams into good dreams—at least according to Len—so it's not always a bad thing.

"I see," I said, still being unsure on how to respond to his statement. In the end, I decided to shift the topic. "I don't draw, so knowing that you draw fascinates me. It's really great to be able to put your thought into pictures."

"You think so?" he asked with eyebrows raised. "I've been doing this for a little while, just to kill the time, so it didn't really cross my mind. But thank you, anyway."

I nodded at him. "I can say that because my good friend likes to draw as well, and seeing her drawings moved me in a way. I think it's really amazing."

Then I noticed the change in his eyes, like he has taken an interest in my words. "Is it your friend from before?" with his voice full of curiosity, he asked.

"Yes," I answered. "How did you tell?"

A smile is apparent on his face after he heard my answer. "Your face tells it."

Surprised with his answer, I widened my eyes. At the same time, I can feel a tingling warm sensation inside of me. "Does it?"

"Of course," he chuckled. "You had a really honest expression just then, like you were really thinking about her when you said that. I guess you really meant it when you said that she's someone dear to you."

I thought I was just saying words I needed to say, never thinking that it would show up on my face at all. Maybe it was really an honest expression, just like what he said. But what surprised me more is that Len even notices my expression.

Nevertheless, I decided to go on. "So, yeah, she likes to draw. She even drew the good dreams she has been having lately, that's including the one we saw last time."

"Ah, so she must have remembered it, then," he pointed out. "That's great."

"Yeah… it is," I said. A smile inadvertently blooms on my face as I recalled Miku-chan's expression when she's drawing her nice dreams. "Even without having to hear the words from herself, I know that she's really happy with it. She actually admitted it, though."

It was his turn to ask me a question. "Did you say anything about it to her, that you see her dreams and so on?"

"W-well, of course not," I answered right away. "It would be too weird if I told her that. And, I'm not sure that she would believe in me, since I didn't believe this at the beginning, either."

He nodded at me. "Yeah, I admit it that this… might be too bizarre for a normal people to understand. Not to mention that they might freak out if we tell them that we, say, see their dreams."

"Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of. I don't think it's actually necessary to say it, either," I told him. "Although, I told her something—that someone is watching over her, protecting her in her dreams, and wishing her sweet dreams."

My eyes landed at the table in front of me as I finished my words. I remember it clear how Miku-chan's expression looked like when I said that. She gave me an unbelieving look, but there were sparks of hope in her eyes, like she was just given a dream to look forward; it was an expression one couldn't help but feeling glad at. For Miku-chan, who had been hiding herself behind an expressionless mask, to show that kind of hopefulness really meant a lot.

I can hear a soft chuckle. Even though it sounded like it was held back, it's pretty impossible to miss in a room this silent. "Just like what I thought, you're a really nice person after all, Rin," said Len with an amused look on his face. "I don't think you would say things like that, unless if you really want her to be freed from her worries."

It took me a moment to understand what he meant. "No, it's not about me. Actually I was thinking about you when I said that."

"Oh?" he pulled his lips into a thin line. "But isn't that true for you too, Rin?"

I didn't make a single utterance as a response to his question, but I am sure that my face shows my feeling clearly. With my mouth slightly parted, I continue to stare at his figure.

"Before, I saw you trying to save that girl from her bad dream. Although I don't think you know what will happen to yourself by doing that," he said. "Just by seeing that alone, I know just how much she means to you."

At last, he put the sketchbook away, placing it on the table with the drawing facing up. Then he stood up, ready to leave the seat. Before he does that, however, he turned around to face me one more time. "I understand it well, you know. We might be having the same feeling, after all."

I thought he was going to walk away, but he doesn't. He's still standing there while looking at me intently. As if he's locking my gaze, I cannot avert my eyes, allowing me to see the sincerity in his eyes. It's an expression that is already familiar to me—Len always has that look on his face whenever we're talking about Miku-chan.

I wonder who Miku-chan is to him. No, rather than that, I wonder who Len actually is. We're so much alike that it makes me think that there's more to our meeting than what it seems.

But what is it?

Suddenly, a soft laugh tickled my ears. I was so deep in my thoughts that I momentarily forgot that Len is still staring at me. "You look troubled," his voice sounded light despite of his statement. "Something bothering you?"

"No, I was just thinking," I said while still debating to myself whether to ask that question to him or not. Although, knowing him, I'm not sure that he would answer my question, at least straightforwardly. Maybe I should just ask something else. "Did you see her dream last night?"

There was a flash of surprise in his eyes, something I would certainly miss if I'm not looking straight at him. He was quick to regain his composure, however. "I did," he answered quick.

I was at loss of words for a moment, just because I wasn't expecting him to give that kind of reaction to my question. But before I had the chance to say anything else, Len went on, "She met someone in her dream."

"Ah," the sound escaped my mouth involuntarily. If he was really there watching, then the presence that Miku-chan felt was surely him. "Actually she told me about it. She… said that she felt a presence of a someone watching over her, so I was wondering if that was really you."

Len raised his eyebrows. "She can feel my presence?"

"I have no idea, though, but that's what she said," I told him.

I can't argue further about the matter since I don't understand it myself, so I keep my mouth shut. I thought Len would know something about it, but it doesn't seem like that was the case. Oddly enough, he questioned nothing even though it looks like he's pondering hard over it—he doesn't even move an inch from where he's standing.

Len doesn't seem to be saying anything, though, so I decided to continue on with my words to break the silence. "She also said that she wanted to thank you for the dream. She was really happy about it."

"All I did was wishing her a 'sweet dreams', though," he finally opened his mouth, tugging a smile on his otherwise puzzled face. "I am not in control of the dream that she sees."

"Yeah, I know that. But the fact that she saw a good dream was because of your wish," I said. "She's feeling thankful enough for that."

"I see," he said with a faint smile. "In that case, I'm the one who should be grateful to hear that she's feeling that way. Thank you for telling me."

"N-no problem. I think I should tell you after all, since I can reach you in this place," I replied him. I shifted a bit on my seat before saying the words I've been wanting to say, "So I guess you have no idea either about that someone."

"Hmm, guess so," he turned around, finally taking a step away from the table. "But I have no idea about who that girl is, either. So I don't think it actually matters to me, about who that person is."

I nodded in understanding, even though he's not looking at me. His words make perfect sense. For Len who has no idea about who Miku-chan is, he won't be thinking about the matter as much as I do.

"But you know," he continued on, "I could tell that she was really happy. No matter who that is, someone who was able to bring such smile to her face must be…"

"Must be a very important person to her," I filled in his words.

I turned around to look for his figure, expecting the usual smile to be shown on his face. But despite of all the words he said before, his face tells otherwise; his lips are pressed altogether, his eyes are looking far ahead, as if he's actually bothered with the matter.

It almost looks like he's in an unease.

* * *

 _Next Update: February 21, 2018_

 _Thank you for reading!_


	9. Chapter 9

In the dreams, I can see her crying.

She's crouching on the ground, burying her face in her hands as she's sobbing almost soundlessly. Her body trembles uncontrollably along with her anguish, like she can no longer hold the pain inside of her.

There is almost nothing else that I can see in this place, except for the endless white corridor and the girl amidst of the empty scenery. The atmosphere of this place makes me feel uneasy—I am certain that I know this feeling from before. This is a dream, but not a pleasant dream.

Memories of that time flashed through my mind. The darkening sky, the dread, the threatening hands, and her helpless figure. This scene feels exactly the same, yet it looks very different. There seems to be no actual threat that haunts her in this place. She's there, all alone. But even in this emptiness, she's crying so heartbreakingly.

My chest tightened at the sight—the sight of Miku-chan. Why is she having this dream? Even though there's nothing in this place, why is she crying?

I don't understand what is happening. I don't understand why Miku-chan is crying in her dream. I don't understand why I am seeing this, either. But even so, I can't let this continue. I can't just watch her crying like this. And so, I walked closer to her. Seeing her hunched figure makes me want to reach her with my hand and hold her tight, just to stop her cries. Even though I know that I won't be able to touch her, I still tried to extend my hand towards her.

I clasped my hand after seeing it going through her image. Miku-chan stays still with her head buried down, unfazed by my attempt to reach her. Her cries also don't stop sounding in my ears.

Still with my hand clenched, I took a step back. This really is familiar; that time, too, I tried to save her, but I couldn't reach her. The scene just continued to go on despite of my attempt to make it stop… until Len finally did something.

My breath hitched as I brought my hand to my chest. That was a wishing, something that he wished for her so that she would have a nice dream…

Once again I looked at her figure before letting the words out, "Sweet dreams, Miku-chan."

Right after the words escaped my mouth, a loud ring resounded. A new scenery takes place, washing the white emptiness with the beauty of the reddening maple leaves from the outside of the open window. Miku-chan, who was previously crouching on the ground, is now standing by the open window while looking out. Her long, teal hair is blown away by the autumn breeze, but more importantly, there's an undoubtable happiness reflected on her face.

Dreams sure work in some mysterious way. How everything changed just in a blink of an eye is a great wonder for me; although, what moved me the most is Miku-chan's smile. Sure, this is not the first time I see her smiling. Moreover, I've been seeing more of her smiles lately, but every single of it never fails to bring this feeling of joy to me.

A sudden thought passed through my head. Is this the reason why I am seeing Miku-chan in my dreams, so that I can turn her bad dreams into nice dreams? So that I can bring a smile to her face, even in her dreams? Is that why?

I can hear the tap of her shoes clearly as she turned from the windows. Miku-chan is now facing at me, still with that genuine happiness reflected on her face. I know that she can't see me, but I smiled in return anyway.

* * *

All that fills my sight are people, passing through the electronic gates of the train station. Their haste movement makes them look like a mere blur in my eyes, coming and going away in a blink of eyes. There's not much people wearing suits today, given that it's Sunday, but the train station is still flocked by people wanting to spend the weekend by going somewhere.

I originally had no plan for this Sunday, but our literature teacher suddenly announced something unexpected in the middle of the week. "I got tickets to the amusement park for the whole class."

Our initial expression was of a confusion and disbelief, but when he explained that he got it as a promotional campaign from his friend who works there, we broke into a cheer. "And also, all of you did really well in the project. Consider this a prize for your hard work."

And so, the whole class is going to the amusement park today. The only time we've gone out together as a class was during the excursion, and that was a school related activity so we had to make a report and whatnot, but today is rather different. We're not wearing our school uniforms and there's no reports that we need to make; we're going to have fun together and that's it. It sounds fun, I can't help but feeling excited just by thinking about it.

As for now, I'm waiting for Miku-chan to arrive. The meet-up with the others is at the park entrance, but Miku-chan and I decided to go together from the station. Although, I came a bit too early so I got plenty of time to spare. Watching the never-ending flux of people is more interesting than what I thought before.

"Rin-chan!"

I turned my head at the call, finding Miku-chan walking hurriedly towards me. "Sorry for the wait," she breathed out once she got to my side.

"Don't worry about it! I'm the one who's early, actually," I said, reassuring her with a smile.

She nodded in understanding before turning around to take a look of the scenery inside of the station. "It's really crowded, isn't it?" she commented.

"Yeah. It's kinda surprising, right? "I thought people would rather spend the weekend lazying around in their house, but I guess not, huh?" I replied.

"Maybe because the weather is nice, people decided to go out," Miku-chan remarked. That might be just right. Despite the weather that keeps getting colder, the sky is pretty clear today; perhaps that's the reason why.

"Just in time when we're having this outing," I added. "Well, since we're both here now, we should get going. The others probably has been waiting there."

"Ah, yes," Miku-chan finally broke her gaze from the station gates. "Let's go."

With that, we left the station to head to the amusement park. It seems that people from the station has departed to their own destinations since the road certainly looks less crowded than the station, but there is still a plenty of people on the sidewalks, mainly in groups. The town where we live is not as crowded in the weekends, so it is a rare sight for me.

While walking by my side, Miku-chan seems to be looking around the area. I have no idea, but she seems to be enthusiastic with her surroundings. Maybe it's her first time going to this part of the city?

"This part of the city looks totally different from our town, isn't it?"

"H-huh?" Miku-chan turned to me with a flabbergasted face. "Well, sure it does. There are many tall buildings, also lots of cars on the road. I rarely see this kind of sight."

"We don't find this kind of thing in our town, after all. It's a nice refreshment to see something like this once in a while," I giggled along with her. "Do you usually go out during the weekends, Miku-chan?"

"I have plenty of things to do in the weekends, I barely ever leave the town," she said as she keeps her eyes fixated on the road. "That's why I rarely see this kind of sight. To think about it, it's really fascinating in a way."

Her answer sounded rather stiff. She seems to be enjoying the atmosphere of the city that she's not minding much about my question, although I think that she actually meant her words. But to think about it, Miku-chan seems to be a really busy person. Before, she said that she's busy after school, and just now she told me that she has things to do in the weekends; and I can only wonder about that. Of course I want to know just what busyness she's always having, but I can't ask it straight away for sure.

"What about you, Rin-chan?" Miku-chan's voice came into my hearing, catching me off guard. "Do you come to the city often?"

"Not really," I answered. "But sometimes my mom would ask me to tag along with her when she gets a call from the main office."

Miku-chan turned her head to face me. "Your mom is an office worker?"

I shook my head. "She teaches piano in a music course in our town. The main office is in the city, though, so she sometimes goes there."

"Oh, is that so?" she said with a slight enthusiasm in her voice. "So, do you play the piano as well, Rin-chan?"

"Just a little bit, although I'm nowhere as good as my mom," with a sheepish smile, I told her that. "When I was in elementary school, I used to follow her to the course building when she's teaching, but most of times I was there just to accompany with the singing…"

"Kagamine-chan!"

My words stopped at the sudden call from behind. I turned my head instantly to find the source of the call, and I can see Miku-chan doing the same. What comes into my sight is Megurine-chan's face as she's running slowly towards us.

"Oh, Hatsune-chan is here as well," she remarked as she took notice of Miku-chan right after she caught up with us. "Morning!"

"G-good morning," Miku-chan greeted back with nervousness in her voice. It seems that it came as surprising to her, as she was visibly taken aback when Megurine-chan said that.

Megurine-chan is quick to continue the conversation. "So, were you two going together from the station?"

"Yep. I thought that it would be nice to walk together before meeting with the others," I answered.

She clapped her hands altogether after hearing my answer. For some reason, she looks really excited. "I'm glad that I ran into you two, I was worried that I might get lost by myself because I'm not familiar with this area… Is it okay if I tag along?"

"Sure! It would be bad if you get lost, Megurine-chan. And we're heading to the same place after all, so why not," I smiled at her. "What about you, Miku-chan?"

Miku-chan looks somewhat flustered when both Megurine-chan and I look at her face. "Um, of course, Megurine-san."

Instead of giving a reply, Megurine-chan stays silent while eyeing Miku-chan from top to toe. The action certainly makes Miku-chan become really self-conscious, enough to make her stutter out, "W-what is it?"

Megurine-chan hopped to a side to change her point of view, making Miku-chan turn her head as well, "It's just, your fashion sense is really nice, Hatsune-chan! You combined them all really well—it's really cute!"

Miku-chan's look today is perhaps not what people are expecting from the silent girl in the class. While it's not the first time I see Miku-chan in her casual look—the first time was when she came to my house to work on the literature project—and realized that she has a great fashion sense, her look today is just as nice. She's dressed up in a casual, long-sleeved white blouse tucked into a wide knee-length skirt with a brown-colored ankle boots. She's also wearing a dark brown beret which goes well with her usual low twin-tails.

"Thank you," said Miku-chan with a faint blush on her face. "It's just, since I like to draw, I bought plenty of fashion magazine for references. And so I became rather used with this…"

Megurine-chan looks even more delighted after hearing that. "Really?! I never knew that! Maybe we can discuss about fashion together—although, our fashion style might be different, but I know you'd be able to give me ideas. And oh, we should go shopping together some time! Kagamine-chan, you'll tag along, right?"

"Eh?" I answered straightaway once I heard my name being mentioned.

"Even though I didn't say it, Kagamine-chan's look today is just as cute! But what's more surprising for me is Hatsune-chan, though!" she continued on. "So, how does that sound?"

At first, Miku-chan still looks nervous; confused, even. But then, just like a flower bud, a smile grew on her face, then it bloomed into a light laughter. "I'd be happy to, Megurine-san!"

"Yay! I'm looking forward for it, Hatsune-chan!"

While they're still having a conversation, I'm not averting my gaze away from Miku-chan. I simply cannot help but smiling along with her laughter.

* * *

 _Next Update: March 1, 2018_

 _Thank you for reading!_


	10. Chapter 10

Time flies when you're having fun.

Perhaps, that is true. When I realized it, the sky has started to darken. Although the change of season makes the day become shorter, I don't think that's the reason why the day went really fast.

We were having so much fun spending a whole day in the amusement park. Even though we've been knowing each other for at least half a year, we never deliberately go out together to have fun. As a result, we get to know each other even better, even about those we barely talk to during class.

Since the presentation project happened, people have been greeting Miku-chan more often. I guess that was the turning point—people started to realize that Miku-chan isn't as cold and inapproachable as what she seems to be. But of course, the most important thing is that Miku-chan has started to open herself up more. Even as I'm sipping on my cola right now, I can see Miku-chan chatting with the other girls from the class.

"It's like something you'd see in the dreams," said a voice behind me. I pulled out the straw from my mouth and turned around to see who has just said that, which turned out to be Megurine-chan. She then took the empty seat beside of me and continued her words, "But it's not. It's really Hatsune-chan who's smiling over there."

Being at a loss for words, I answered her short, "Sure it is."

She chuckled hearing my answer. "You know, I've been paying more attention to Hatsune-chan after we last walked together to the school," she admitted. "And yeah, I noticed that she has changed. Like, she's not the same Hatsune-chan with the one I met at the beginning of the year. You wouldn't notice it at a glance, then, but if you do, she really has changed a lot."

I nodded slowly to her statement, "Yeah."

"I don't know about you, since you've been sticking close by her for a while, even before the others do. But… I really didn't think that it could happen," she added.

I took a sip of my drink as my eyes travelled to where Miku-chan is. She might look rather shy and nervous, but I can tell that she's really getting along with the others. And that is something people didn't think could happen—something you'd see only in the dreams, like Megurine-chan said.

Ah, of course that's what she meant by that.

"And guess why," Megurine-chan grinned at me. "Because of Kagamine-chan, of course. You've always been by her side even when the others didn't. Sure, it seems to be Hatsune-chan's own will as well, but you were the one who kept on encouraging her, right?"

"Well…" I averted my eyes away from Miku-chan, landing it just right beside my cup of cola. Of course I can't deny that fact, but I'm not going to say yes so straightforwardly. It's really not about me, after all.

Megurine-chan simply gave me another light chuckle. "You're simply too kind, Kagamine-chan. But going too far could hurt you, you know."

I blinked hearing her words. "Um, sure," I said, unsure about what else to say.

Before I can think about it further, a call from close by interrupted our conversation, "Kagamine-chan, Megurine-chan, come here! We're gonna take a group selfie!"

"Oh!" Megurine-chan was quick to respond as she stood up immediately. "Come on, Kagamine-chan!"

"R-right," I said, hastily putting my cup on the table before heading to where the others are gathering.

Once everyone is settled on their position, the one holding the stick called out, "Okay, cheese!" We pulled out our widest grin, giving our best look for those few shots.

"See you tomorrow, guys!" a student called out while waving a hand.

"See you, too!"

And with that, we started to part our ways back to our own homes. I searched for Miku-chan before I head back home, though. I should bid her goodbye, or maybe I should ask her to walk home together with me again…

"Rin-chan!" I saw Miku-chan approaching me hastily. "Are you heading home?"

"Yep," I gave her a nod.

"Um, it's just," she began, "I was wondering if you want to walk home together."

"Of course! I was thinking about the same thing, after all," I said. "We should get going before it gets darker."

"Yeah," she nodded. But before we even take a single step, a distinct tune cut in. It's certainly a ringtone, but not coming from my phone. Perhaps that's Miku-chan's. "Ah, sorry. Let me pick that up first," she said while fumbling her bag for her phone.

Miku-chan stared at the caller ID for a little while, like she's thinking whether to touch that green button or not. A look of worry flashed across her face before she finally hit the 'accept' button and brought up the receiver to her ear. "Hello, this is Hatsune. Yes, what is…"

She simply stopped on her words after that.

"I-I see," Miku-chan said after a while. "Thank you for letting me know. I'll be there very soon."

She hastily shoved her phone back into her bag once the call has ended. Her gaze landed to the concrete ground for a short moment before she turned to me. While avoiding eye contact, she said, "I'm sorry, Rin-chan. There's… something I need to take care of. Sorry that… it's so sudden, but I really need to go soon."

Miku-chan already looked so worried even before she picked up the phone, as if she had already known what the call was about. But if that was the case, I don't think Miku-chan would be this shaken right now. "It's okay, Miku-chan, I understand. Although, are you going to be alright by yourself? Do you need me to come with you?"

She quickly rejected my offer, "Thank you, but I'll be fine by myself. I-I'm going now."

With that, she turned on her heels and walked away hurriedly. As her figure disappeared from my sight, I can't help but feeling uneasy about the whole situation. She said she'll be fine, but I know that she's not.

Miku-chan… looked like she was going to cry back there.

* * *

I meet Len again in the dreams. His dream, to be exact.

"Ah, Rin," he said after he took notice of my presence. "Good evening."

I nodded in understanding and then greeted him back, "Good evening."

After flashing a smile to me, he turned back to what he was busied with. I looked over to see what is there, and found the wall is now decorated with some picture frames. It doesn't have photos in it though, instead, it's all drawings. But given that the drawings look realistic and well-detailed, it's not an exaggeration to say that it's just like a photo, only in monochrome.

Suddenly Len turned back to me and called, "What do you think about this? I've just done putting them so maybe you could give some opinion."

The gold paint on the carved frames goes well with the room's dark brown wallpaper, but that's all I can think about. I'm not much into decorations so I don't really understand about what's good and not. "I like the colors," I told him.

"Hm," he looked back to the said frames, putting a hand on his hip. "After all, that's the only color that goes well with the overall theme of the room. If I leave it as is with the natural wood color, it looks too much like the floor. White paint will make the color pop up too much, too. I'm glad that it turned out good."

I only nodded at his explanation without minding much about it. What catches my attention more is the framed drawings inside. There's a lot of scenery drawings, although there are some portraits as well. Unsurprisingly enough, there are some drawings of Miku-chan—it's so detailed that I can tell at a glance that it's her. She looks a bit younger, though, and wears her twin-tails a little bit differently than the Miku-chan I know.

But talking about Miku-chan, there's something bothering me. Something about the dreams, and something about Miku-chan in the real world.

"Len," I started. "There's… something I'd like to tell you."

* * *

We're once again walking through the dreams. To think about it, it has been a while since we last do this together. There's still nothing that comes into sight, although I don't know if that's for the best or not.

"So what is it that you want to tell me?" Len's voice broke the silence.

While still dragging my feet across the glass-like floor, I opened my mouth. "You know that I've always been questioning the reason why I am here. And I thought I finally know why."

He's looking at me with a curious expression, raising his eyebrows as I took a brief pause. Shortly after I continued my story, telling him about my last encounter with Miku-chan in the dream and how it ended.

"The reason why I am here is to bring a smile to her face, even in her dreams," I said at last. "But now I'm not really sure about it anymore."

"Why is that?" Len asked. His gaze is now on the ground, but I still can see his puzzled face through the reflection on the glass-like surface.

The image of Miku-chan's troubled face flashed through my mind. "In the end, I still don't know what keeps haunting her and taking away her smile, no matter how much I tried to make her smile in this place, or even in the real world."

"So, you're saying that even in the real world, there's something that's bothering her," Len concluded.

I stared up at the warm white sky while still keeping my steps going. "Yes, it troubles her much more than her bad dreams. She used to be really distant from anyone, and she never once smiled," I said. "She's smiling a lot more now, but like what I said, I never know what is actually bothering her."

For a moment, Len stayed silent while still staring at the ground. He shook his head before saying, "You know, that came as a surprise for me. That really didn't cross my mind because I always thought that she's someone who would smile no matter in what situation, but… maybe that's just me."

The person that Len has just pictured sounds like a complete opposite of Miku-chan, and I can only wonder why. Are we talking about the same person? After all, Len said that he doesn't actually know her, so there's a chance that he simply mistook her as someone he actually knows, or… I don't know. Even though Len is a huge mystery for me, I have to admit that I don't know Miku-chan as much as I don't know him.

"What about you?" I asked back. "Have you ever think about the reason why you're here?"

Suddenly he stopped on his track. Noticing his abrupt stop, I stopped walking as well, quickly turning my head to him to see what is written on his face. I am sure that he noticed my stare, but he didn't avert his gaze from the empty sky ahead. He then let out a hollow chuckle that sounded too forced to be real.

"I honestly don't know myself."

I was taken aback by his answer. I thought he would know—after all, he's been here for a long time.

I thought even Len knows that I'm surprised with his answer even though I didn't clearly show it on my face. And with that he continued his steps. "Of course you would think that at least I know. I said that thing to you, after all, that you should be the one who knows why you're here. But I really don't," he said. "Or maybe I just have forgotten."

"Huh?" I couldn't help but to let my voice out at last. "What do you mean by you have forgotten?"

This time, he turned to me and flashed a smile. "I've been here for a long time. That's something you should know already, isn't it?"

"I know, but what does it have anything to do with forgetting things?" I asked. "And anyway, if you've been here for a long time, you should get more curious about it rather than forgetting it."

I said that, but I quickly realized it afterwards that perhaps it's not what he meant by that. And by seeing his unchanging smile, it's like he's trying to tell me something without actually uttering a word. He's not going to say anything anymore, is he?

It's true that he has been here for a long time, at least longer than me; it's a fact I cannot deny. I've seen him from the first time I arrived at this dream world. Except for that one time, Len is always here with me from the beginning until the end—from the time I fall asleep until I open my eyes again. It's almost like he's _always_ here.

And that's the moment when I feel my eyes widening in shock. Could it be that the 'long time' that he meant is…?

"Len, do you…" I stopped midway from being unable to let the rest of the words out. My feelings are bubbling inside of me, I simply can't calm down. "Do you ever wake up from this dream?"

I know the answer. There's no any other way. I know; but it still blew me when I heard his voice, saying the words I've been expecting to hear.

"I don't."

* * *

 _Next Update: April 11, 2018_

 _Thank you for reading!_


	11. Chapter 11

She stared at me, eyes wide, feet rooted to the ground. But rather than a pure confusion, she's showing a horrified expression as a response to my answer.

"Then what about you, the real you in the real world?" she asked. "If you don't wake up, then how do you…"

Although it sounded like she's holding back, her voice is audibly cracking, to the point where she can no longer say a thing. Her unbelieving eyes are still on me, mixed with hints of concern—a really honest expression.

… What's with that face?

We just happen to cross path in this dream. Nothing more. We didn't even know each other before—we were complete strangers.

Then why is she looking at me with such heartbroken eyes?

* * *

Miku-chan isn't coming today, too.

I can only wonder about her whereabouts and her well-being. Ever since she received that phone call, she hasn't contacted me even once. She hasn't been showing up at school, either. Although, according to our homeroom teacher (I suppose Miku-chan had contacted her), she still has things she needs to take care of, but not hearing the news from the person herself worries me.

It must be a really important thing to take care of. After all, this is the third day already. But I can only wonder—there's no way to figure it out unless Miku-chan spills them out herself. To think that it was just last Sunday when we went together to the amusement park, this situation bothers me to no end.

It really isn't just that. I can't stop thinking about Len as well, since I found out about his situation. But before I could hear any other words from him, I found myself back in my room already. My chest felt really tight, weighed by the thoughts brought over from the dreams, knowing that he… doesn't wake up from his dreams.

If I think back to it, it all makes sense. Why he walks through the dreams of many people, why he created a dream for himself, or why he even draws pictures 'to kill time', it's all because he doesn't wake up. Len had said it before that he's been there for a long time, but I always thought it simply meant that he had known the dream world much longer than I. Rather than that, it's actually one continuous dream that goes for a long time.

But more importantly, with his dream self staying in that other world, what would possibly happen with his real self? Is he going to stay not awakened from his dreams? What about his life, or the people close to him, then?

While I'm still engrossed in my thoughts, I suddenly heard a voice calling me in a sing-song melody, "Kagamine-chan!"

I broke my gaze from the textbook laid on my desk and turned to the source of the call. Megurine-chan is standing next to my desk, leaning down slightly while putting her hands on her back. "You seem so deep in your thoughts, Kagamine-chan. You even still have that book opened. The self-study session is over, you know."

"It… is?" I questioned hesitantly. She was quickly proven true after I looked around the class, finding everyone already putting their books away. It really is over; the self-study session.

I don't think I even studied anything at all even though I kept on looking down to my book. What Megurine-chan said is right, I was so deep in my thoughts that I didn't even pay attention to the book. I guess this is not the first time this kind of thing happens, huh.

"Yeah, it is," she answered lightly, confirming it once again. "Anyway, since it's break time, let's get out for some lunch."

I blinked hearing her call. "Sure," I answered, looking into her bright blue eyes.

* * *

"It's pretty unusual for you, Megurine-chan," I started up a conversation. "You're usually with your friends eating lunch at the cafeteria, so hearing you asking me to have lunch together is a bit surprising."

While all the students in our class generally get along well, we certainly have our own circle of friends we're more comfortable with. Megurine-chan and I are just like that; while we're on a friendly term, we rarely ever sit together during lunch or the kinds. I guess we just don't have many things in common to become that close.

"Eh, it's not a matter. Besides, aren't you my friend, too?" she flashed a toothy grin before turning her attention back to the empty hallway. Her eyes softened as she went on, "So I guess there's nothing wrong if we have lunch together—in the courtyard."

"I guess there won't be that many people. It's really starting to get colder," I remarked.

Megurine-chan simply nodded in agreement, keeping the pace on as we're nearing the courtyard. Before we fall into an inevitable silence, suddenly she started again, "You just can't help but thinking about Hatsune-chan, right?"

I looked at her, wondering why she asked such question. But considering that she has asked me to come with her, she probably had meant to bring up that topic. "Of course. It's been three days with no news, after all," I told her. "At least the teacher finally gave us some news on her earlier…"

"She's not telling you anything about it?" she asked.

I shook my head. "Nothing at all. I tried to send her a message, but I got no reply as well."

"I thought she would at least say something to you," Megurine-chan heaved a sigh. "It's just odd, you know. Wasn't she with us last Sunday? It didn't seem like something was wrong."

"That's what I'm thinking," I said.

We happened to pass by the locker before reaching the courtyard. I thought I saw a glimpse of a person in our row, wondering who it might be in the middle of the day. I was beyond surprised when I recognized the figure. "Miku-chan!"

She turned to me with her shoes still in her hand, her locker is left open. "Rin… chan," she uttered before finally releasing her grip on the shoes, making it hit the floor with a soft thud. "Ah, and Megurine-san, too—"

I walked over to her side in a hurried motion. And without waiting for anything else, I asked, "Where have you been, Miku-chan? You didn't tell me anything at all about what happened. Is everything alright?"

"It's…" she answered quick before averting her eyes, looking visibly tense at the question. "It's alright. It's nothing you should worry about."

I somehow don't feel satisfied at all with that answer, and looking at her unreadable expression just makes me feel uneasy. "You're sure about that? Why didn't you answer my message, then? Not hearing anything from you just makes me…"

I was interrupted by a soft laugh from behind. Soon after, Megurine-chan joined in the conversation. "Kagamine-chan is just worried sick of you, Hatsune-chan," she said. "Although, I think it's not only Kagamine-chan who's worried about you."

Miku-chan's eyes widened a bit. "What do you mean?"

"We are all worried, Hatsune-chan." And Megurine-chan smiled at her. "After we all hung out together last Sunday, we could only wonder about your whereabouts."

"I… see," Miku-chan slowly said, her eyes casted down once again. "Sorry about that. And… thank you for worrying about me. I'm really okay, though, so there's no need to be worried."

Still, not knowing the exact thing that's bothering her makes me feel rather concerned. I know that it might be none of my business, but I have no choice but to feel this way.

While trying to shake the thought off, I turned to both of them and said, "Megurine-chan and I were just going to have lunch together. Mind to join us, Miku-chan?"

"Sure," she said, although her voice sounds hollow somehow.

* * *

"Sorry that we didn't do this earlier," Miku-chan started a conversation while we're walking home together. "I was the one who asked, but I cancelled it right before we could go. I'm really sorry, Rin-chan."

"It's alright," I told her while shaking my head. "Rather than that, I'm glad that I get to see you today. The teacher said you won't come today as well, so seeing you today is a huge surprise for me."

"Ah, yeah," she shifted her gaze to the ground. "That's what I said to the teacher, but it turned out that I can leave sooner so I went to the school right away."

"I see," I said, nodding absentmindedly to myself after hearing no more words coming out from her mouth. I don't actually mean my words, but I have no idea about what else to say.

Maybe I should ask her, after all, about what the phone call is about. At this rate, she would just make me worry more than I already am.

But before I could open my mouth, I heard her voice. "Rin-chan," she suddenly called my name. "I'll tell you about it."

That makes me turn my head towards her. "About what?"

"About it. About… everything," she sounded rather hesitant with her words. "Just not now. But I certainly will, when I think I'm ready to."

It took a moment for me to process her words, but hearing those from her is giving me a reassuring feeling. I'm really glad that Miku-chan said that; I feel really happy knowing that she is willing to tell me the thing that has been bothering her, and that she starts having trust on me.

"It's okay, I'll be waiting until you're ready," I said. "And thank you, Miku-chan, for trusting me." Then I smiled at her.

* * *

And when I passed through the door, I am once again met with the exact same place like before, which is a small, square room with a door on every side of it. Not only the shape of the room seems same, even the inside is exactly the same with a dimly lit chandelier hanging on the ceiling, old paintings on the wall, and damp wooden floor.

I've tried to go through the door on my right. I've also tried the ones on my left, on my back, and in front of me as well. And it's not only once, but for times already. Nevertheless, every single of them leads to this very same place. Maybe it's not the same place, but there's no way of telling it since it looks exactly the same.

I keep going in a circle. It's almost like there's no way out. But, it can't be, right? There must be a way out from this place… but _how_?

I start to feel anxious about this. What if there's really no way out? What if I'm trapped here forever, in a small, eerie room by myself? I can hear the thump of my heart drumming in my ears already. No, I can't stay here forever.

I decided to keep on going. I passed through countless of doors, but ending up at the same place again and again no matter what. I don't want to believe this, so I keep going on this desperate search of an exit; but there's none. There's really no way out of here, and there's nothing I can do about it.

Only then I start to feel terribly frightened. It is truly terrifying. My hands are trembling. I want to cry.

But then I heard a cracking sound. I immediately turned my head to see what it is, and I found a crack on the wall. That crack wasn't there; I am sure of it. Then I started walking towards it, reaching my hand to see what's over there.

To my surprise, the entirety of the wall started cracking. Quickly I pulled my hand back, staying away while watching the wall crumbling down. I felt relieved at the sight, but that was just a moment before I realized that the whole place is crumbling down into a nothingness.

I can feel myself losing balance when the floor I was stepping on disappeared, and suddenly I found myself on the brink of falling down. I tried to reach onto something to prevent myself from falling into the nothingness, but everything has disappeared. I am once again overwhelmed with fear as I feel myself starting to fall…

But just a moment before I could actually fall down, I can feel a hand grabbing my own. My heart is still pounding erratically, but I could manage to look up to see who's over there. Although, the familiar blond with a pair of blue eyes should not surprise me anymore.

"Len?"

* * *

 _Next Update: April 21, 2018_

 _Thank you for reading!_

* * *

TheRubyMoon — Thank you so much! I hope you'll enjoy more of the cliffhangers!


	12. Chapter 12

He quickly hoisted me up. Once he had pulled me to his level, the scenery quickly shifted into one I am fairly familiar with—the warm white sky of the dream world.

While still having myself seated on the floor, I looked around to see my surrounding. It's the ever same dream world with the warm white sky and glass-like floor, but that's not the point. _This_ is the dream world, and I somehow ended up here after all the things that happened before.

"So that was…"

"A dream. A bad dream, actually," Len filled in for me. "It looked like you really need some help over there, so I—"

"Are you alright?" I asked, cutting his words off once I noticed his fatigued face.

He snickered at me. " _I_ should be asking you that, although… This is surely taking more energy than what I initially thought, but it's alright, I'm just a bit tired."

That makes me furrow my eyebrows. "What did you do, exactly?"

"Breaking down the dream," he replied quick and short. "Are you alright, though? Sorry for putting you into such a dangerous situation."

"I'm alright. Actually I should be thanking you for—"

 _"_ _Rin-chan!"_

I stopped on my words when I heard someone calling my name. I thought it was Len since there's no one else here, but that's not the way he calls me, and the voice sounded rather different than his. I can't hear it clearly, though.

"Did you hear that?" I asked.

"Hear what?" he asked me back.

"Someone calling… Never mind," I quickly dismissed my own question. "Maybe it's just my feeling."

 _"_ _Rin-chan!"_ the voice called again, this time sounding clearer than before. This isn't just my feeling, somebody is calling out my name, but who?

"Go on," Len suddenly spoke up.

"Huh?"

"Did you hear someone calling out?" he asked. "Go on, answer that call. I won't be going anywhere, so we can continue talking later."

I didn't really get what he meant by that, but apparently Len noticed my confusion. With that, he said, "Wake up, Rin."

* * *

"Rin-chan!"

I suddenly jolted back to reality, with my heart pounding loud the moment I opened my eyes. A figure is slowly taking a form in front of my eyes as I regained back my vision. "Miku… chan?"

She didn't say a word, but her eyes say a lot—those are eyes full of concern. Only then the question crossed my mind; what happened?

I slowly got up into a sitting position, with Miku-chan supporting my sides as I do so. "Are you all right? How are you feeling?" she asked.

"I'm fine," I answered while looking around to see where we are. If anything, it's the disorientation that makes me feel rather confused. "What happened?"

"You suddenly collapsed while walking," she said. "I thought the road might be dangerous so I brought you here. Are you really all right, though?"

Hearing her asking the same question again, I know that she's not reassured with my previous statement. I pulled a small smile and answered her again, "I'm really alright. Sorry for worrying you, Miku-chan."

With that, she tore her eyes away from me and started to rummage her bag for something. Meanwhile, I looked around to see where we are now—the park on my way home, and we're sitting on the bench. The evening breeze has started to prickle my skin, and the sky has gotten darker, too.

"Here, drink some water."

Unbeknown to me, Miku-chan has poured water from her flask and handed it to me. "Thanks, Miku-chan," I said while taking the cup from her hand.

While I'm drinking the water she gave me, she asked again, "Are you sure you are okay, Rin-chan?"

I nodded while giving her back the now-empty cup. "Yeah. I just fell asleep somehow, but that's it. It's nothing serious, I assure you."

Miku-chan just stared at me with a hard look, and it doesn't seem like it's faltering anytime soon. It almost looks like she has set her determination on something, although I'm not really sure of that myself. Her gaze softened quickly after, however, and she looked up to the darkening sky just to avert her gaze away. "The day is getting shorter, huh…"

"Yeah," I agreed right away. "We should get back before it's too dark."

She turned back to me almost instantly after that. "Are you feeling okay enough to continue walking?"

"It's alright," I let out a slight chuckle, then proceeding to get up to my feet. "See? I've told you that I'm alright."

She didn't say anything, but the look on her face says it clear—she's not at all convinced with my words. While I understand that she's worried, a lot, having her being _this_ worried makes me feel bad. Even though I'm being honest with her, maybe she just can't brush it off like a small matter.

After a moment, she heaved a sigh. As she took the grip of her bag, she said, "Let's go, then. I'll walk you home."

I'm beyond surprised when I hear that. "No need to, Miku-chan. I'm alri—"

"I'm walking you home," she cut me off. "Please. I hope that's not too much to ask."

Hearing the determination in her voice makes me unable to refuse in any way. It feels odd; not in a bad sense, but it is certainly odd. It's not like the Miku-chan I know, and the fact that she's putting up an unreadable expression left me wondering.

It's almost like she's trying to hold her bottled up emotion from pouring out.

* * *

Just like any other night, I climbed up my bed after I turned my lamp off. As I pulled my blanket over, my mind travelled back to the events that happened today. From Miku-chan's unexpected appearance at school, our walk home together, the dream I had in the daylight, and Miku-chan's sudden change of behavior.

She walked me home just like what she had said, not ever leaving my side until I opened the gate of my house, even though the sky had gotten much darker the time we arrived. Of course I tried to convince her that she didn't need to go this far, but she kept insisting no matter what.

"I'll be fine by myself," she said to me after I asked her about walking home by herself, considering that it was dark already. "I do this everyday, anyway, so no need to worry."

I didn't question her further about her statement, although it does leave me a question.

The other thing that keeps nagging my mind is the dream I had earlier. I didn't even recall falling asleep; and when I knew it, I was already in that room. The thing is, it felt like a completely normal dream, even if it was a bad one. It's like I suddenly, quite involuntarily fell asleep and got trapped in a dream I have no control of.

I closed my eyes, trying to let go of the thoughts. It really has started to get into me, and questions keep on piling up higher and higher; about the dreams, about Miku, and even about Len. I really have no idea what I've gotten myself into.

The first thing that caught my eyes once I'm back to my awareness is Len, sitting on his usual spot with a sketchbook in his hand. He seems to have stopped his activity, though, as he shifted his eyes to me, seeming to have noticed my presence. And with that, I realized that I'm once again back in the dream world.

We both continue to exchange glances, with not a single word coming out from either of us. This is unlike earlier, the moment after he pulled me out from that dream. Now we just seem like we're completely lost on what to say.

At last, while putting his pencil away, Len opened his mouth. "Good evening, Rin," he said with a smile, one that doesn't quite look like the usual.

"Good evening," I greeted back, simply just to fill the silence.

"So it's actually evening now," he noted, leaning his head on his hand. He's still looking at me while doing so.

Only then the thought came back to me. He always greets me whenever I arrived here, but does he actually know _what_ time of the day it is? "Do you have any idea of it, at all?" I decided to ask him right away.

He smiled, a visibly forced smile. "Nope. It was usually just a wild guess that it's the evening, since you're in your dreams and all," he said. "But earlier… That's not a usual dream, isn't it?"

I nodded, then took the seat at last. "It was still in the afternoon, and I was on my way back home when it happened," I told him. "I was with someone, too. I made her worry over nothing, but that dream just came out of nowhere that I can't explain it myself."

He gave me a stern look, something I rarely see of him. "So when you knew it, you were in the dreams already."

"You can say that, but," I paused and shifted my gaze elsewhere. I'm not too sure about what to say. "It's just like a dream—you won't be aware of it until you're out from it."

"So I'm guessing that's when I pulled you out from that dream."

"Right," I said, once again looking at his direction. "It was really odd; I wouldn't think that I could fall into a dream when I wasn't even sleeping."

"Huh, so it really is odd. I honestly wasn't expecting that," he nodded slowly to my explanation. "It went quite differently in this place, though. I was just walking through the dreams just like usual when I felt something going terribly wrong. And I saw you, in that dream."

"So you could see me just like how I saw her dream back then…"

"No, actually," he cut me off, "it wasn't quite the same. If it was just like that time, I… no, we could just change the dream into a better one, but I couldn't. My wishing couldn't get through. It's like something was blocking it, something was… off."

"So you decided to break it," I concluded. "Although you didn't need to go that far—was it the only way?"

"I have no idea, but that's the best I could think of," he said. "I can't just stay there doing nothing when I'm seeing you in a trouble like that. Would you be alright if we didn't put a stop to it?"

"That… I don't know. But knowing that it would take a toll on you like that makes me feel bad," I replied. "Thank you for saving me. I know I've said it before, but I really mean it."

He finally gave me a smile. "It's alright. In the end, we're both safe, after all," he said. "Although, frankly speaking, it seems like… No, it _feels_ like it's a threat."

As if the time is slowing momentarily, many of thoughts filled my mind just in that short moment. A threat, what for? Are we in danger just by being in this place? What was that dream about, actually? Just having the thoughts of it make me feel a tad uneasy.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to scare you," Len's voice came back into my hearing. "It's just, there's a lot of things about this place that we might not know. I'll keep an eye for sure, but please be careful, Rin."

"I will," I told him a moment before my eyes fell on him again; his calm expression, his rather unconcerned look towards the matter, which of course left me thinking. "In that case, shouldn't you get out from this place as well?"

He only smiled. "Nah. I'm the least of your concern."

* * *

 _Next Update: May 1, 2018_

 _Thank you for reading!_


	13. Chapter 13

I know the fact that he, for some reason, doesn't wake up from his dreams. But having the him acting all calm and unbothered like this… bothers me very much. With my eyebrows knitted, I asked, "What do you mean by that?"

"That's not a problem for me. I won't go anywhere."

"But if something happens, then you'll…" I trailed off. "Are you okay with this?"

Len raised an eyebrow to me. "With the threat? Well, I'll do what I can do. Of course I won't do anything weird, I know my limits, so—"

"No," I cut him, "with not waking up."

A silence passed between the two of us. For a moment, Len has that surprised look before he quickly looked away, landing his eyes on his sketchbook. He pulled a forlorn smile and said, "If you ask something like that, I don't know what to answer. Really."

That's certainly not what I'm expecting to hear. But I keep my mouth shut, waiting for him to continue.

"It's not like I don't wanna wake up. I don't think it would matter either way, waking up or not." He turned away once again, this time to stare at the picture frames he put up not long ago. "It's just, it's been a long time since I fell into this dream without waking up, to the point that I can't remember anything anymore about my life before coming to this place, except for my own name."

My breath hitched as my mind went blank for a moment. Unable to believe what he just said so indifferently, I looked at him right into the eyes and uttered, "That can't be true, right?"

He looked back at me, seeming to feel my stare on him. His expression doesn't change at all, but his eyes say something about my surprise, almost as if he's feeling sorry about it. "I'm sure it wouldn't turn this way if I remembered at least something."

I am left speechless by his words. A part of me still refuses to believe what he just said, but at the same time I have absolutely no reason not to believe it. Actually it's not about the 'unbelievable' part, but imagining such thing happening…

I said nothing, but even that doesn't go unnoticed by him. "You don't have to be that concerned about it," he replied. "As I said it, I can't remember anything. It's not as bad as what it seems."

It's true that maybe it doesn't bother him as much. Maybe it's me who's overthinking. Maybe I don't know how it feels to be in his place, maybe it really is not that bad; he doesn't remember anything, after all. But just thinking of him, staying in this place by himself, not even knowing the self he was once before, having no place to return, nor a place to go…

Like a helpless, lost child robbed of everything in an unknown place.

That's just horrible. It's not 'as bad as what it seems'; it's much worse. The worst of it all is probably the fact that nothing about it matters to him, as if he's even robbed of himself, of his feelings.

"Rin."

I snapped up to him, the sudden call brought me out of my thoughts. Driven with emotions, I let the words out right away, "It's not alright."

He looked quite taken aback by my sudden outburst, but said nothing. Seeing his reaction makes me realize my actions, and I quickly tried to hold back my emotions from pouring out. It went to no avail as I feel my hands trembling.

"This isn't fine. You can't stay this way," with an audibly cracking voice, I squeezed the words out. "Isn't that a horrible thing? Staying here all alone by yourself, having no recollection of anything. That's just…"

"I suppose, you would feel that way," he said.

"And you… you're not waking up," I went on. "Those ones dear to you, those who you leave over that other side, they're probably keep waiting for you."

"I suppose that is true as well."

"That's why, I…" My words lumped in my throat. I can't seem to say anything else. "I…"

A warm hand touched my chin, lifting my face up. I don't know what kind of face I'm making right now, I don't know if it's something I should show at all, but I am met with his downcast gaze before I knew it.

"Don't make that face," he said, plastering a forced smile. "I don't like seeing that face, so please don't."

But I can't hold my tears back anymore.

* * *

"Are you alright, Rin-chan?"

Miku-chan's call makes me turn my head to her. Seeing that worried look on her face, I can only give her a small smile. "I'm alright, Miku-chan," I said. "Haven't I told you so yesterday? I'm completely okay, really."

And again, she doesn't look that convinced with my words—it's like she couldn't get over yesterday's events. "Your eyes are red, though."

"Oh," I averted my gaze away, not expecting her to pay so much attention to my eyes. "No, it's just, something got into my eyes earlier so I rubbed them. It's not a good thing but sometimes you just can't help it."

That's not it. I lied. What actually happened is I woke up crying.

"Sure," she replied, but I can't tell whether that was an honest answer or not, maybe she just decided to go along regardless. There's nothing else coming out from her as her expression hardens, eyes fixed on something distant—it's that faraway look again.

I thought she wasn't going to say anything else, so I was a bit startled when her voice came back into my hearing. "Rin-chan," she began, "you can tell me if there's something bothering you."

Hearing those words causes my heart to thump hard. I know a part of it is a pang of guilt, while the rest comes from my genuine surprise. I didn't think she would say something like that, but it makes me happy nevertheless.

"I will, Miku-chan. Thanks."

And we continued our walk to the cafeteria in silence, amidst the buzz of lunch break joy. Miku-chan seems to have her mind occupied on something, while I simply can't think of a topic to talk about. And even if I do, I'd be reluctant to say it when she's showing such a troubled face like this. The thing is, she has been putting that face since yesterday, after her mysterious absence. There's no smile on her face, just that hard and faraway look, like she's waiting for something inevitable to happen.

And even so, she took the trouble to say those words despite of her own problems.

I wonder if she sees through my lie. I know that I shouldn't lie and leave her in the dark, making her worry over nothing. Maybe I should tell her about those dreams, about Len, but…

I held my sigh before it could escape my mouth and be heard by Miku-chan. If anything, I'm afraid that it will bother her. At the, I fastened my pace, tried to reach the cafeteria table soon in hope that there'll be a new topic we can talk about once we got there. Thankfully there are some empty seats in the middle of the cafeteria that we can sit on.

We took our lunch out and started eating right away—my meal is a simple one with rice, fried prawns, and salad—without initiating any kind of conversation. Once in a while I steal glances at the girl in front of me, finding her eyes fixated to the table. Sure, Miku-chan doesn't act aloof and distant anymore, but those eyes remind me of those times back then.

From the corner of my eyes, I suddenly saw a figure standing close by. Only then Miku-chan broke her gaze and turned her head towards the figure. "Megurine-san…"

It is Megurine-chan, standing with her arms crossed over her chest. With her eyes narrowed and eyebrows knitted, an annoyance is clearly shown on her face; and she didn't say even a single word. "Is… Is something wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing," came her blunt answer. "I'm just pissed off."

And no words were exchanged after that. I simply can tell that both Miku-chan and I don't have the courage to ask anything beyond that. Megurine-chan is generally cheerful and friendly, so I've never expected anything like this. Of course, who dared to speak after that is Megurine-chan herself. "Uh, I'm sorry. It's not about you two, you know, but it's just, _ugh_."

She seated herself next to me before I could even ask her to. At least I can still offer her one more thing. "Mind to tell us about it, then? Maybe it'll make you feel better."

"Well, it's nothing much, but say, a guy decided to mess up with me," she spoke out. "Like, sheesh. I don't even know what to say anymore."

I blinked hearing her. She didn't say much, but somehow I can get it from her words that she's not happy for the thing that had happened. I can't say much about it, though.

"I know that Megurine-chan is pretty and all," I finally spoke, "but that doesn't justify anything, does it?"

I can feel Megurine-chan throwing a glance at me. "You think so?" she asked with a small smile. "Well, it's obvious that you think so. It's common sense!"

Okay, whatever that had happened certainly doesn't make her happy even just a little bit. I start to think that a guy was trying to hit on her, but I can't make sure of it since asking it straight away to her seems to be too risky. After all, I don't want to make her feel even worse.

Miku-chan is glancing uncomfortably, almost like she's trying to find a distraction. She's unexpectedly silent during the whole talk—I wonder if there's something in her mind. But before I could ask, Megurine-chan has started talking again, "Huh. Sometimes there are just things that can't be helped, after all. Sorry that you have to hear all of that."

"It's alright! We didn't do much, really, but I hope you're feeling better with that," I told her.

"I certainly do!" she grinned at me. "Sometimes you just have to let it out and that's it. Thank you so much, Kagamine-chan, Hatsune-chan."

That caught Miku-chan's attention, it seems. "Sure. You're welcome, Megurine-san," she said quietly while turning to look at Megurine-chan.

"The same goes to you, Hatsune-chan," Megurine-chan smiled at her.

That makes Miku-chan widen her eyes. "Huh?"

"Sometimes you just have to let it out," she continued. "Don't keep everything to yourself. You have a wonderful friend, after all, she'll certainly listen to you no matter what. Right?" Then she threw her gaze to me.

Megurine-chan's words surprised me. I didn't think she would say those things about me, but I nodded nevertheless. "Of course. I'd be happy to if it makes you feel better."

"Well, maybe I'm not as reliable as Kagamine-chan, but I'll be there if you need someone to hear you out. Consider it as a return for hearing me out just now."

I noticed the subtle change in Miku-chan's face before her hard look melted away. She gave a small smile after that, then muttered, "Yeah."

It's not only me, but Megurine-chan as well. Miku-chan has wonderful friends for sure.

* * *

 _Next Update: May 11, 2018_

 _Thank you for reading!_

* * *

KnightLawn — Thank you!


	14. Chapter 14

The bell rang, signaling the end of today's school. I picked up my phone and scrolled through the messaging app, something I do as a routine once the teacher has left the class. This time, I got a message from mom, telling me to come over to her main office in the city. I don't have any club activities or any other duties, so I guess there's no problem with that.

I rarely need my train pass since I rarely go anywhere far in the weekdays. School is within a walking distance, and so is the market. I put it in a pouch I always bring around, however, in case I needed it in emergency.

Only this time, the pouch isn't in my bag.

I stared at my bag, wondering where I have left the pouch. I don't remember putting it out from the bag, and I quickly made the assumption that it may have fallen out in my room. It's not a big deal, I only have to fetch it before going to the city. It's not much of a detour, after all. But I guess there is no harm if I just buy a ticket for today.

As I zipped my bag close, Miku-chan walked by my desk, already with her bag. She has seen my puzzled expression, it seems, because she asked afterwards, "What's wrong?"

"Miku-chan," I took notice of her before turning back to my bag. "Nothing, I was just wondering where my pouch is. I might have left it at home."

"A pouch?" she repeated after me. "The orange-stripped one?"

"Yeah," I blinked, wondering how she knows the exact thing I meant. I don't think I have shown it to her. "Do you know anything about it?"

Her eyes widened as realization dawned on her, for a reason I can't tell. "Oh my," she muttered as she began to rummage her own bag.

She certainly knows something about it, but she has started talking before I could ask, "I… When you collapsed yesterday, I looked through your bag to find a medicine in case you needed one. I might have accidentally shoved it into my bag after—" she paused abruptly, trying to take a better look of the inside of her bag. "Didn't I bring it with me?"

I peered over in curiosity, and right when I did that, she cut off with an apology, "I'm sorry that I opened your bag without your permission! I should've told you right away, but I really couldn't think straight…"

"I-it's alright!" I answered her. It's not saying that I'm not surprised with the revelation, but instead of becoming wary with her action, I feel somehow happy that she even thought of it. "You did it for me. Actually, I should be thanking you for that."

Once again, she threw me an apologetic look. "Are you sure?"

"Of course. Thank you, Miku-chan."

She quickly looked away, hiding her face from my sight. Her hand stopped its motion, resting on my table where she puts her bag on. "I…" her voice came back into my hearing, "I didn't bring it with me, though. I think I put it away with my books yesterday. I'm really sorry." Then she glanced at me. "You need it, right? I, um, maybe I can grab it from my house and deliver it to your house. It's not that far away from yours, I can run and get it fast."

Actually knowing that it's in her house is good enough, she can just bring it tomorrow. "It's not that urgent, I only need the train pass. It can wait until tomorrow," I said. "I'll just buy a ticket for today."

"No," she interrupted. "I feel bad already for taking it with me. I promise it won't be long."

Her words are clear, I noticed. "Where is your house, exactly?" I asked. It's not because I don't trust her, but I'm thinking of just coming over to take it—if she allows me to, that's it. As I said before, I still have enough time for that.

She blinked, releasing her hand from the zipper after she was done zipping it back close. "It's five blocks away from the road where we part ways," she said.

"Ah, isn't that the road to the station?" I asked her. "In that case, I can just pass by your house on the way to the station, since I'm going there."

"That station is farther to the city, though," she pointed out, probably noticing that it's not the station I meant to go to.

"It doesn't matter either way. It's still the same line," I said. "Ah, I didn't mean to decide things on my own. If you're not okay with that—"

"It's okay," Miku-chan cut me off. "I don't mind at all."

* * *

Miku-chan said that she doesn't mind, but does she really mean it? The last time her house is mentioned, she seemed reluctant to give me permission to visit. I can't tell if she has changed her mind, or she's doing it out of guilt for taking my pouch with her.

Her house is exactly where she had described before. It's a one-story house, shaped not much different with the neighboring houses. The quiet color of the paint makes it don't stand out much, giving off a simple look overall, but it's not like saying that my house is any different.

"Sorry for intruding," I said, putting a step into the house. It seems empty and overall lifeless inside with the lights out, but Miku-chan turned it on right away. Nobody was home.

"You can wait on the sofa," she said as she left me hurriedly to a room that I assume is hers.

I took a better look of the room once she had vanished from my sight. There's a TV on a side of the room, while its controller is placed on the table in front of me, aligned neatly with a decorative plant. That's all about the table; it's empty otherwise, although there are some books stacked in the space underneath it. There are also some cabinets: one holding the aforementioned TV, another one—a bigger one—placed just next to it, and another one with frames and flowers on it decorating the other side of the room. Perhaps what catches my attention the most is the canvas sitting on the corner of the room, right next to the closed curtains.

"Sorry that it's a bit dark. I didn't get the chance to open the curtains earlier," Miku-chan suddenly remarked, appearing from the corner of my eyes.

Turning around, I replied, "It's alright." I noticed that she now has the pouch with her, but that quickly became the least of my concern as I realized the implications behind her words—either she's the one tasked with that, or there's no one else to open the curtain. The house seems empty, but I know that I shouldn't jump into conclusions.

"I'd really like to serve you something, but I know that you're in a hurry." She approached me in the living room, and put the pouch in my hands. "Sorry for causing you troubles because of this."

"Don't worry, I can still make it on time," I waved my hands to her after putting down the pouch on my lap. "Even just for a little while, thank you for inviting me to your house, Miku-chan."

"I feel really bad for not offering anything, though," she said. "Maybe some other time, Rin-chan, if you had the chance. I'll make sure to have something prepared."

"Really? Can I? That's really kind of you!" I feel a smile creeping up to my face. "But, are you sure? I hope I won't cause you trouble myself."

"It's alright! Just think about it as my token of apology," she smiled back. "I think I shouldn't hold you any longer, Rin-chan. It's better if you get going before it gets too late."

She ushered me out, then opened the door for me while I proceeded to change back into my shoes. "I'll definitely make time to invite you over. I might even ask Megurine-san to come as well… Do you think she'd be happy with that?"

"I'm sure she would be delighted. She's taken a liking to you, I think," I said while still putting my foot in.

"Do you think so?" she wondered out loud. "I know she said that, but—"

Her word is cut abruptly before I could get the gist, and my eyes travelled to her automatically. The front door is now wide open, but Miku-chan hasn't released her grip on the handle. To my surprise, there's someone standing just right in front of the door, or that's how it should be. The door is opened, however, leaving only the thin air that separates that person with Miku-chan.

I got up to my feet immediately, even when I'm not done with my shoes. I can get a better look of the person from this position; it's a guy, clad in his school uniform. Looking from his features, I can guess that he's around our age. His uniform is not from the school Miku-chan and I attend, however. Not even from any other school close by. The dark red scarf around his neck is contrasting with his blue hair, but not with his black uniform. I can't see Miku-chan's face from where I'm standing, but I can feel her; taken aback with the sudden visit.

"Miku-chan," he called, blue eyes staring straight at her.

I can see Miku-chan's grip on the handle tighten. " _What_ do you want?" she snarled—a voice I'd never think would come out from her.

He didn't say anything. He continues to stare at her with his mouth pressed to a thin line. During the silence, I met his glance for a brief second before he averted his eyes back to Miku-chan. "Nothing else," he said.

She didn't seem to take that well. "Leave," she said without hesitation.

He didn't budge, but his eyes narrow slightly, showing a faint hint of worry. "Miku—"

"I said _leave_!"

Something flashed in his eyes, almost like he's trying to repress the hurt inflicted from her words. With that, he heaved out a sigh.

"If that's what you want," he said, sounding more disappointed rather than angered. He turned on his heels without any other words, and walked away with almost no sound.

Everything stays still for a moment after—even Miku-chan's hand is still tightened on the door handle. I decided to finally slip into my shoe, and that's when Miku-chan turned to me in a swift motion.

She stepped aside to give me a room to pass, eyes darting elsewhere to avoid my gaze. Her voice came back to my hearing shortly, "Sorry you have to hear that, Rin-chan."

"It's…" Now to think of it, _I_ don't know what to say. My word was left hanging when she decided to open her mouth again.

"You really should go," she told me. I know that she doesn't want me to push the matter further, but it's not that I want to. I'm just too speechless to even utter a word.

* * *

Surprisingly, I met him in the train. I can't seem to let the dark red scarf go unnoticed.

I find it odd that he's taking the train to the city, even though I could say the same for myself. It makes me think about his uniform that I can't tell where from. That, and the fact that he's taking this train leaves me with the thought that he's not from our town. Although, it seems that he's too busy sliding his fingers across the virtual keyboard to notice me staring.

He does notice me, however, once he looked up from his phone. He uttered the words before I could do, "You were the one before, in Miku-chan's house."

"Yeah," I nodded slowly. He recognizes me from before, which proves me right when I thought that our gaze met back there.

"So you're the one she's opening to," his mouth curled into a something too devoid of joy to be called a smile. "She always shoos me away. I know that something is wrong, but she's not telling me anything."

My eyebrows knitted. "You're not from our town," I pointed out. "Did you come just for that?"

"And she pushed me away just like usual," he huffed under his scarf. "Today's a bit different, though. It's good to know there's finally someone by her side."

I was silenced by that. Their conversation earlier suggests that it's not the first time that exchange happened between them, but I wasn't so sure. What is it about, anyway?

"Please take a good care of her," he told me before heading to the door. I didn't even notice that the train is stopping, and it was too late to stop him from stepping off the car when I realized it.

He knows something about Miku-chan.

* * *

 _Next Update: May 21, 2018_

 _Thank you for reading!_

* * *

Asuta — Yes, there isn't any. Mostly because I pictured the dream world differently, this one is a wide open area so I feel having chains would be weird...


	15. Chapter 15

I remembered the train station where that blue-haired person got off. I had no time to chase him down that day, but today, a few days after that eventful day, I deliberately came to the station after the school had ended. Just in time when Miku-chan is in charge of the cleaning duty; she asked me to leave the school without her.

Immediately the day after that encounter, Miku-chan and I continued to live our life just like usual. As if it never happened in the first place. She's awfully good at hiding it, making it seem like it doesn't matter for her, even though I know better. I didn't bother asking her, either, knowing that I shouldn't.

However, the blue-haired boy is another story. He knows something about it, and seems to be willing to tell me. He asks me to take care of her, after all; he should have an explanation for that.

I can see him coming from the opposite direction where I came from, still with the same attire that I saw him in a few days ago—his dark red scarf and the black uniform. Wasting no time, I approached him.

His eyes lit up in surprise upon seeing me, but he quickly shook it away and offered a smile. "Hey, you're the one from before."

"Do you have a time?" I asked him. "There's something I want to ask."

"Sure, now is fine." He answered too quickly, making it hard for me to believe that he really meant it. "Figured that you'll eventually ask, anyway. And I _do_ need to talk to someone about this."

I feel my eyebrows knitting. "And that is…"

"You," he replied. "Because I've never seen Miku-chan with anyone else before."

"So you know it's gonna be about her," I said.

"What else would it be?" he raised his eyebrows. "Come on, we should find a place to talk."

He took me to a nearby café. It definitely feels odd coming to such place while still wearing my school uniform, but he doesn't seem to have any problem with that despite being in his uniform as well. It would be funny if somebody happen to see me here, sitting with a guy, but I guess this place is too far from the town for anybody to recognize me. Besides, I don't think anybody would mind much to begin with.

Shortly after we ordered some drinks, he turned to me. "Are you her classmate? I can tell from your uniform that you're from Miku-chan's school, but are you?"

"Oh, sorry for not introducing myself earlier," I apologized before going on. "Yes, I'm her classmate. My name is Kagamine Rin."

Raising an eyebrow, he repeated after me, "Kagamine?"

"Mountaintop of flowers," I said, telling him how my family name is written.

"Oh," he said quickly. "Well, we're in the same year, then. I'm Naoto Kaito. It's nice to meet you, Kagamine-san."

"Likewise, Naoto-kun," I replied.

"You can call me Kaito, though. I'm not really comfortable being called that."

I blinked. I wasn't expecting such thing. "Is that so? Kaito-kun, then?" I asked. "To think of it, your last name sounds like a first name."

"Well there's that too, but eh, it's some personal matter," he shrugged with a sour smile on his face. "People do say that a lot, though, about my last name. Miku-chan particularly liked to tease me about it."

I silenced at the mention of her name. "About that," I began, "how do you know Miku-chan? I mean, you seem to be on some kind of term with her." I can't put my finger on _which_ term it is, the good one or the bad one, but I can't be wrong about him knowing Miku-chan in someway or another.

"We went to the same middle school."

Oh, so that's it. It's not surprising that they know each other, then."So are you friends or…" I trailed off. "Sorry that I'm asking too much."

"Nah that's fine. That's what I want to tell you anyway," he said absentmindedly. "We were in good terms. I mean, this scarf… she made it."

"She did?" I asked in disbelief. Sure, it turned out that Miku-chan can be friendly (I think she _is_ actually friendly, despite the aloof personality that she showed early on), but hearing that she _made_ a scarf for someone is really unexpected. I didn't know they were that close, for her to do as much as that. Were they in a special relationship, perhaps?

"It's not what you're probably thinking of," he chuckled, as if he could read my mind. Maybe my face is showing my thoughts. "She made two. One for me, and one for our friend. Another guy."

"So you were close friends, then? The three of you?" I wonder what even happened to the other guy, but it's not my business to know. Besides, I wouldn't know someone from their middle school.

"Something like that," he said. "We never went further than that. We were friends, and it stayed that way until the end of our third year."

That's the final year of middle school. "Then you decided to go to different schools?" I blurted out, too late to realize the words that came out from my mouth. "I'm really asking too much, aren't I? I know that it's not really my right to meddle into your personal matters, but…"

"This won't stay a 'personal matter' any longer," he paused to look up to the waiter that came to serve the beverages. "I'll probably ask you the same question, anyway, so no need to feel bad."

I guess this is the only way to do it. Thinking that I might upset him if I apologized once more, I went to ask him again, "So what happened after that?"

"That is, I don't know."

I thought he would know something, but he doesn't. I didn't voice my surprise, though, urging him to continue by letting the silence fill the air.

"She moved away. She didn't even tell me anything about it. I found it odd that she suddenly decided to move away to the town, but then I found out that she had been living in her aunt's house during middle school, and her actual house is in the town."

"Is it the house that she's living in right now?"

"That's the one. Her aunt gave me the address and that's how I found out about her whereabouts." He took a sip of his drink, making me realize that I haven't touched mine. "That still doesn't explain anything, though. She refused to have a talk with me even once so I still don't know the reason behind it."

I recalled our last accidental meeting in the train, when he told me that she always pushes him away. "How long has it been going on? That… she's pushing you away, I mean."

"From the first time I went to her house. She never welcomes me, or even greets me. Instead, she asks me to go away whenever I came," he said. "It hasn't been long since I found her whereabouts, though. I only got the chance to visit her around last year, months after high school started."

Surely it took a while for him to reach her. Even then, she doesn't tell him anything, I guess. "But you've been coming to her house since then?"

"Once in a while, but, yeah," he paused, glancing uncomfortably as he did so. "I know something is bothering her really badly. I want to help her, that's for sure, but she certainly refuses to say anything."

"I see," I mumbled, more to myself. At first, I thought I could get something out from her close friend from middle school, but apparently not. "That's how she used to treat me, or everyone else in that matter. She wasn't acting cold or anything, but she purposely avoided people, and never spoke unless she needed to. I could only wonder what's possibly in her mind."

"I was surprised," Kaito-kun said. "Miku-chan was a rather cheerful person. There might be many problems that she had to face even then, but she would stay optimistic, not once wanting to drag people along with her problems. Maybe that's why she doesn't want to talk to me, but for her to become really distant like this is… surprising."

I'm not in his place; I wouldn't know how surprising it is to find your friend suddenly _changed_. And even that sounds like an understatement. Not just a personality change, but a change as a whole—as if she was suddenly a someone you don't even know.

"So I suppose you don't know what happened, huh?" his voice came back into my hearing. I feel that he decided to open his mouth again after hearing no response from me.

"Yeah," I said rather absentmindedly, giving that answer just to let him know that I'm still listening. My mind is occupied with the thought of Miku-chan, since it seems that the Miku-chan that Kaito-kun knew during middle school and the Miku-chan that I initially knew at the start of high school is a complete opposite.

"There must be something important, then, for her to change that much."

"I think so, too," he leaned back on his chair. "But we're really not going anywhere with this, unless it's Miku-chan herself who decided to speak."

I know that. I've been thinking of the same thing for a while, but will she? She did say that she will tell me, but now knowing that she's not even telling her good friend… Of course I want to believe in her; it makes me feel bad for having this doubt.

My eyes fell on my untouched cup of tea.

* * *

"Oh, so there's someone who knows her from before?"

"Yeah," I said. "He said that he was her friend from her middle school. Her close friend."

I ended up telling my meeting with Kaito-kun to Len, for a reason I can't quite understand. I just feel that I need to talk to someone about this, and somehow Len became that someone. From the way he set aside his sketchbook, he looks interested in hearing me out. I don't know why, it seems like the topic of Miku-chan always piques his curiosity.

"What does he know?" he proceeded to ask me.

"I was hoping that he knew about _what_ happened to her—anything that has to do with her bad dreams, but he doesn't. He's just as surprised when he knew her change of personality," I answered. "She was a cheerful person, he said."

Len simply hmm-ed in acknowledgment while nodding to himself. What I didn't notice at first is the smile on his face. "She certainly gives off that personality," he said.

As I was just thinking about how Len seems to be fond of Miku-chan, I remember hearing him mention that sometime before. Something about Miku-chan with a smile, being cheerful no matter what situation she's in… It's just as what Kaito-kun told me. Does Len, perhaps, know Miku-chan from before?

"Len, do you…"

"Remember anything about it—you want to ask?" he cut my words, only to fill it in himself. "I don't. I feel that it should be something that I know, but I can't…"

As he trailed off, his face changed into a mild surprise. He looks more confused than anything else, though, with his eyebrows furrowed.

"What is her name again?"

I'm sure I've mentioned her name before, but I just noticed it now that I never properly introduced her name to him. "Hatsune Miku," I said, ending the name in an unnaturally raising tone.

He slowly turned away from me, opening his mouth to let the name echo. "Miku."

It's pretty surprising to hear that it's her first name that he decided to repeat after, but I didn't question it. I didn't get the chance to question it, as I was left in my thoughts. There's something in his voice when he said her name.

"I got the feeling that I _should_ know her, but I just, _don't_ ," he repeated his words from before. "Is she really someone I know from before?"

Only this time I saw him looking genuinely exasperated.

* * *

 **A/N:** I use "mountaintop of flowers" ( _ka-ga-mine_ ) for Rin's name instead of the actual "mirror sound" ( _kagami-ne_ ). I actually altered everyone's name, but it's not really relevant to the story.

* * *

 _Next Update: October 11, 2018_

 _Thank you for reading!_

* * *

Asuta — I'm happy hearing that! I hope you'll enjoy the rest of the story as well!


	16. Chapter 16

I heard the turning of the doorknob, the old hinge creaking as it swung open. The soft _thumps_ of slippers tapping against the wooden floor followed shortly, and with a _thud_ the door was closed once again.

I turned to her, watching her figure slowly coming closer. I could almost see her clearly as she lowered her head down to me. Her face was dimly lit from the bedside lamp, turquoise eyes turning into a hue of brown from the pale yellow light. Even so, her smile was bright amidst the dark.

I felt my heart clench on the sight. It was the ever same, unchanging smile. It was the…

 _Why are you smiling? I know that you don't feel like smiling, so why are you?_

Reaching for her hand, I clasped it in my own, trying to find warmth in it. And as I did so, I returned her smile, just like how I usually do.

 _You're afraid too, right? You want to cry too, right?_

But Miku always smiles, no matter what.

* * *

I told Kaito-kun the story about when I confronted Miku-chan at the beginning of the school year after I saw her crying by herself.

"After I said that, Miku-chan didn't try to push me away anymore. She didn't seem to know how to deny it—I mean, if I were in her place, I'd surely feel that way," I told him. "It's not that she willingly wanted to be open with me; it's more like she had no choice but to have me knowing her secret, if you can call that a secret."

"Doesn't really seem to be that way for me," he mused. "You can just pretend that you didn't see her on that day. I mean, I think that's what most people would do."

I have to admit it, leaving her alone was the most reasonable thing to do. Even I know it very well that it's not very wise to try to get into someone else's business. "I understand, but I don't think it would be right. It doesn't feel right."

"I know. You didn't do that. You even went to confront her," Kaito-kun said. "The same goes to her, you know."

He doesn't continue his words, but I can infer that he's trying to say that it was Miku-chan's own choice that she stopped pushing me away. In fact, she started to open up little by little from that point onward. She never gets really personal, but she talks and smiles more, and that's because she wants to.

I can feel a smile curling up my lips. "I guess that's true."

"I don't know, but I feel that I should be thanking you," he said while eyeing me. "It might be her choice, but I don't think she'd be willing to do that it you didn't confront her. It's a good thing that you did."

"Yeah," I gave him a slight nod. "Although that makes me wonder why she acts that way towards you. You're someone she has known for a long time. You'd think that… if she's going to be open, it's you she'll be open to."

"Sometimes it's easier to be open with someone you barely know. Someone who'll less likely judge you for it," he quickly replied. "I have no idea what is it, the thing that makes her push me away to that extent."

"What about the other guy? The one you both are good friends with," I decided to ask.

"The thing is, I lost contact with him."

I slowly turned to look at him, finding him shifting his gaze away. His stare seems to harden at the mention of that person. Saying nothing, I waited for him to continue.

"Haven't heard of him since the beginning of high school, or maybe even longer than that," he said. "He's not picking up my calls, not answering my messages… His social media accounts haven't been used recently, either. There's just _nothing_ from him."

My feelings are all mixed after hearing that. It's not someone I know, but knowing that that fact might be related to Miku-chan's current behavior stirred my stomach in a weird way.

"Is he…?"

He eyed me, seeming to understand what I meant with that. "Nah. If that was the case, I don't think even Miku-chan would keep such a big news to herself," he said. "Though, as much as I want to push that kind of thought away…"

"You can't help it," I filled in for him. After not hearing anything from someone, you can only wonder about their wellbeing, after all. Whether they're in a good health, whether they're having a good life, whether they're alive… Without having even a single idea, it is totally reasonable to wonder whether he might have passed on.

"It is a possibility. _Anything_ is a possibility, but he," Kaito-kun then paused to look at me. "He had health problems. I never knew what it exactly was. He never wanted to talk about it, but it was fairly obvious."

"I see," I said, nodding in understanding. I'm wondering if he's perhaps having some kind of treatment that requires him to move away, but I think I'll keep that to myself. "Does Miku-chan have any news about him?"

"She never gives me any chance to ask, I don't think she does, though. I'm starting to think that she's acting that way because things aren't going fine between the two of them." Then he sighed. "Man, seeing your friends breaking apart like this is frustrating."

After hearing that extra information, I feel that I certainly can sympathize with him. "I never have really close friends," I told him. "So I don't know how it feels to lose them. But I can understand your situation."

Kaito-kun's face brightened a bit, then he asked, "Have you ever told Miku-chan that we've been doing this?"

"No," I answered. All the times we've been meeting each other—this is the fourth time—is done without her acknowledgment. "I don't think she'll be happy if she knows."

"Well, considering that you've seen how she's been behaving around me, that's understandable," he said, leaning back at his seat. "I kinda feel bad that we're doing these secret meetings, but I guess there's no other way."

"Yes. It's even worse for me. I'm trying to meddle into matters I shouldn't," I admitted. "But still, I want to help Miku-chan—and you too, Kaito-kun. So if this is necessary, then…"

He chuckled at that. "I've told you before that I should be thanking you, Kagamine-san, for all the things you have done for her," he said. "You're very welcome to know all of this. It is for Miku-chan's own sake… and for his, too."

I've been trying to hold back from prying further, but the direction of this talk only makes me want to keep asking.

"That person… what is he like?"

Kaito-kun gave me a side glance, staring at my face a moment before giving his answer. "A lively person, that one who speaks the loudest in the group. It's hard to forget someone like him, so you'll probably remember him for a long time once you've met him."

"That kind of person everyone likes, then?"

"Kinda," he said. "Somewhat understandable that Miku-chan is devastated not hearing anything from him."

"Aren't you, Kaito-kun?" I asked.

"Well, obviously," he chuckled after that. "But that guy… As someone who has that kind of personality, he's not around much, especially during outings. I wonder if he feels lonely sometimes."

I watched as he turned to stare out through the window. People have started to put on their coats as they go about their business, with scarves wrapped tight around their necks to keep their bodies warm in the crisp, chilly air of the autumn. The red leaf hanging by the tree is fluttering along with the breeze, until it falls and—

"Ah."

"What is it?" I heard Kaito-kun's voice asking.

"No, it's just," I paused to face him, "the last leaf of that tree has fallen down."

"Is it?" I saw him making an attempt to look at the said tree, but it is obvious that he's only doing it out of courtesy. "Well, sure. Winter's coming, huh?"

I said nothing and turned my eyes back to the streets. Then Kaito-kun, who hasn't broken his gaze away, opened his mouth once again. "Has it really been that long?"

* * *

I feel that I am familiarizing with the dream world. Not exactly with its existence itself, but with the fact that I would end up being in that place once in a while. The first time I found myself being in the dream world, it felt like a bizarre experience, something that borders between reality and fantasy, as being aware of oneself in a dream itself is a dream-like thing. But as it becomes a recurring event, I have now accepted this idea. It is intriguing that we have always perceived dreams as something created by the unconscious mind, but what I am experiencing is quite the opposite.

And I opened my eyes to see the cozy sofas and wooden shelves. The framed drawing of a figure resembling Miku-chan is still hanging on the wall, along with several other drawings. I still remember the time when Len asked me for advices, and it seems like he's content with this placement. Only then I realized that Len is nowhere to be seen.

I can see the entire room from the place I'm standing, it's impossible to miss anything. I turn around to look at my back, just to make sure, but I still can't find anyone. It's an odd sight. While there are times when I walk in the dreams without him, this room is certainly different. It's _his_ —it's only natural that I have to be with him to be able to enter. Where is he, then? Hiding somewhere in the room? Or he isn't here at all?

A loud bam—so loud that I can feel the ground shaking—cut my thought off. It feels like this room was hit by some force from the outside. Instinctively I looked around for some openings, but I found no door or windows. There has never been any, now that I noticed, since there should be no need for those. Who knows when the time comes for those to be needed?

While I've witnessed some disruption in the dreams outside, Len's dream has always been a save haven. It doesn't feel that way right now. All that I can feel is the threat coming from the outside, surrounding this room. I look around for one more time, searching for the tiniest opening—or I should try breaking the walls. But with what? And where would that opening leads to, assuming that it's even possible to have an opening at all?

This place is a closed room, while the dreams out there is an endless space. This room must be still a part of the dreams, then—Len did say that this is his _dream_ , after all. Out there should be that open space that stretches to no end; the place I initially get into. All I need is to go over there, but I must find a way to make an opening.

Or maybe, I don't need that opening. I only need to get there. It's not like I need a door—or any openings—to enter this place when I'm with Len. All that it takes was… what was it? He said that he can go and leave as he will, didn't he? So, a will…

'I want to get to that wide, open space part of the dream world,' like that?

I saw the room vanishing for a brief second before it reappears in front of my eyes. It worked, but maybe my wish isn't strong enough to teleport me there. So I close my eyes and try to concentrate on that wish. Soon enough, I felt the air around me change, and the flooring underneath my bare foot doesn't feel the same anymore.

The white almost blinded me when I opened my eyes. Surely the transition between a room dominated with woods and an open space with bright sky could become jarring, but that isn't my main concern right now; and not the fact that the method _actually_ worked, either.

Len is looking at me with his eyes wide. In a distance not far away, a huge gaping hole looms over us.

* * *

 _Next Update: October 21, 2018_

 _Thank you for reading!_


	17. Chapter 17

I can describe the hole as a black void with nothing in it. The stark contrast with the bright sky and clear grounds makes it stand out, not in a good way, like it's… damaged.

"What…?" I managed to mutter before Len's voice cut through.

"Rin, watch out!"

From the corner of my eyes, I see something shoots towards me in a high speed. Finding no time to dodge it, I instinctively brought my arms up to cover my head, all while shutting my eyes tight. Eventually, a quite strong impact came, but not hard enough to do actual damage to me, then I brought my arms down and quickly shot Len a glance. He's apparently trying to fend off the same attack—that I can now tell the form as murky dark substance coming from the hole above—targeted to him.

I ran towards him, arms brought up to cover myself from the incoming attack. When it came, I stagger as the impact almost threw me off-balance. Still, I keep on running. "What's going on?!" I asked him in the middle of running.

"It was attacking _me_ , why are you here now?!" I noticed Len throwing a quick glance to me before he focused back on the defense.

The way he speaks sounds like he's not expecting me to be here—no, more like he doesn't _want_ me to be here. But it all makes sense on why I found myself in Len's dream; he's the one who sent and locked me there, probably because of this very situation. "Are you expecting me to stay over there when things are like this?!"

"I don't want to get you invo—Rin!"

And suddenly I was thrown onto the ground. For a moment, all I'm seeing is the oddly bright sky that looks out of place, considering the situation, until Len quickly pushed himself away from me—which makes me realize that he was on me—and looked over me, to where the shot has gone off. I widened my eyes at the sight.

Flames are seeping from the spot where the shot has landed. It spreads out slowly, but it's visible that it's eating up the ground little by little. Both of us are staring in bewilderment that we momentarily forget about the other danger.

Len stood up, looking the flames with narrowed eyes. "Maybe it's…" he trailed off, then approached the burning ground. I was about to warn him to watch out, but the flames have disappeared—instead of dying like it should have been—the moment he reached his hand to it.

"What is it?" I asked, getting on my feet.

"A dream. Those flames aren't real, it can't hurt us," he said, waving his hand to dismiss the matter. "But who knows."

His words are apparently a cue for another barrage of shots to shoot out from the hole. It was weird that it _seemed_ to give us a moment to talk before continuing to attack, but I spent no more time to worry about that as I started running again. Raising my hands up to defend myself just like before, I stole a glance to Len who is running off to a different direction. He seems to be holding up just fine, but how long is this going to continue? I can't keep going on like this, either.

"Can we fight back?!" I asked, throwing him another glance.

"With what?!" I heard him asking back.

"Shooting it with something… or something?!"

I turned around to get to Len's side, and it looks like he's slowing down after seeing me approaching him. Just a moment before our distance closes, the white sky is suddenly replaced by a dim light amidst the dark. In fact, it's no more a sky; hovering above me is a _ceiling_ , roofing a place that resembles a bedroom.

Startled, I stopped on my track. I don't recognize this room, nor the girl who is playing with her pet on the bed. Stepping farther from them, I held my breath, feeling both confused and afraid—that she would notice me, that's it—but when noticed that I can't feel the wooden floor underneath my feet when it's evident through my eyes, I realized that this is probably still a dream. Someone's dream.

I was brought back to reality when I saw the dark substance shooting to my direction. I quickly ducked without even thinking, and as I notice it passing over my head, suddenly I was reminded of what happened before. The flames. _And the girl in the dream_.

I whirled around and found that indeed, flames have spread out yet again, but this time I can see it licking the furniture in the room before setting them on fire. And the girl… as if she notices the fire, her eyes go wide. The flames coming out from that dark substance can affect the dream? I can't feel any heat, but I can see her panicking—the fact that her cat has jumped out of the bed doesn't help. It's going to get worse if it keeps on going like this.

"So it affects the dream," Len's voice said from behind. For a moment, I forgot that he's still around, but knowing that he's here relieves me a bit. "I guess we need to do what needs to be done now, huh."

"Turning this into a good dream?" I asked him just to be sure.

He nodded. "You think you can do it?"

I shifted my gaze to the girl, who quickly pulled her cat away from the burning flames, but that's it. By the time she managed to keep her cat calm in her arms, the fire has blocked the path to the door, trapping them inside. She can only stare in horror, and then she started to let out a desperate cry. I must bring an end to this unpleasant dream.

"It needs to be done," I said to Len.

"I'll leave that to you, then. I'll take care of the other matter."

He turned away after giving me a tap on the shoulder. Seeing that danger is still lurking around, it's only natural to put up a guard. With him standing right behind me to fend us off from the attacks, I faced forward again and started on my task.

There is nothing left of the room except for the bed where the girl and her cat are. Not bothering to take a better look at the girl's condition, I closed my eyes and wished that they would be saved from the bad dr—

"What do you think you are doing?"

My eyes snapped open. The scenery in front of me hasn't changed, but that voice… I can't recognize it as a human's voice, or even any resemblance to it, but for some reason I _understand_ the words clearly in my head.

"You, who walk through the dreams."

Unable to wrap my head around the idea of understanding words that don't ring in my ears, I turned around to find the source. It only occurred to me a bit later that the sound surrounds this whole place.

"What are you trying to do?" it said again.

Something— _someone_ —tugged hard on my hand, but it's just Len, trying to get my attention back to the hole. I can see a faint silhouette of someone over the darkness, but that's the only glimpse I managed to catch before it disappeared along with the hole.

That girl's dream too, has disappeared.

* * *

Len collapsed to his knees once we got back to the safe haven—his dream.

"I'm alright. That was just… straining," he said before I could even ask. "I guess you just can't feel exhausted in _that_ situation."

At that mention, I only realized myself how tired I am right now. Not as tired as he seems to be, but certainly feels like I had just run for miles. "You sure? At least you can take the sofa… Do you need some help?"

"It's _alright_ ," he stressed the word while getting to his feet. "You too, Rin. Just take a seat."

Following his words, I got moving, but not before throwing another glance at him. It's understandable that he's more drained than me since I wasn't holding off as much attack as him. And who knows how long it has gone on before I get there? I hope he really meant his words about being all right.

After seating myself, I did nothing but staring at the table in front of me. The exhaustion left me drained, but I can't think of another method to replenish my energy. Len is similarly staring absentmindedly at the ceiling—I suppose you can't sleep in your dreams.

"You did a lot today," I said, getting his attention right away. "I… want to thank you, for sure, but why? You locked me in here while you were struggling all by yourself there."

I caught his eyes on me for a short moment before he averted them back to the ceiling. "To keep you away," he said monotonously. "I don't know what would happen. I don't know if it's even safe being in that place. So, to prevent you from going there."

My eyebrows knitted. "Then what about yourself? Why didn't you try to flee if you know it's not safe?"

"I thought of it," he admitted. "But people's dreams; I don't know if they can stay safe if I run away. Besides, it was targeting _me_. There must be something that it tries to… warn me."

Suddenly I was reminded of the dream I had, that one in the daylight where I was trapped in a room and had no way out despite all the doors. It was Len who helped me out by breaking the dream, and he said it too back then that it felt like a threat. What happened just earlier can't be unrelated, no? There is something in here that's threatening us for a reason.

"Did you hear that too?" I asked. "'What are you trying to do,' it asked."

"Yeah, very clearly. It wasn't a human's voice for sure."

I glanced at him, wondering whether the conversation should go on. He's oddly silent, compared to the usual. Perhaps the earlier thing really drained him up. Then I, not daring to ask him further, averted my eyes to the table once again.

"Rin," he started unexpectedly, startling me. "Sure you remember that time when you were trapped in a dream?"

"Yes. I was thinking about that too," I admitted while looking back at him. On his face is now a thoughtful look. "Do you think the earlier attack has something to do with it?"

"For some reason it tried to trap you in a bad dream," he said. "It was the same, isn't it? This time it tried to get me though those shots; you see what happened when it came into contact with the dreams."

I was going to voice my agreement when the words caught in my throat. The image of the burning room crossed my mind—and the girl? What happened to her?

"Right," he answered after I questioned it to him. "Probably waking up. That's what happens when a dream ends."

My face fell, realizing that her bad dream stayed a bad dream until she wakes up. We didn't manage to change it into a nice dream. "O-oh," I said in acknowledgement, noticing the disappointment escaping through my voice even though I tried to hide it.

Len, however, keeps his face straight. I can't read his expression at all, so I have no idea how he personally feels about that.

I decided to push that matter away from my mind and continue the conversation about the threat. "If that's the case, isn't it better to stay away? It might not be safe staying here."

"True. That's why I kept you away."

"And you're expecting me to _stay_ here?" I eyed him. "Not when you're in danger by yourself over there. Besides, you helped me out from the dream before. That was the least I can do in return."

Silence emerged, and I took the chance to open my mouth again, "That's not what I'm trying to say, though. Would it be okay for you to stay here for all the time? I mean, I'm not here all the time so I suppose it's a bit safer, but what about you? Can't you… Can't you wake up?"

I felt his gaze on me before hearing the answer. "No."

* * *

 _Next Update: November 1, 2018_

 _Thank you for reading!_


	18. Chapter 18

"I'm so bummed that the courtyard is a no-go for lunches," Megurine-chan pointed out. "I feel cramped having to stay in the class for the whole day."

"Well, there's the cafeteria, but it gets crowded," I said, picking up a broccoli from my lunch box. "I understand, though."

Megurine-chan and I are having lunch together in the class. As she had said, we can't have lunch in the courtyard anymore because of the weather—it is winter now. Since we brought our own lunches, we decided to have lunch in the class instead of going to the cafeteria. Even though I much prefer a change of atmosphere after staying in the class for hours, the cafeteria is quick to get flocked by starving students.

Miku-chan was with us, too. She had set her lunch box on the table as well before excusing herself to pick up a call outside. She told us to start eating without her, so that's exactly what I do. Eating lunch with a friend in the class… Going on a normal high school life feels so much different with fending off attacks in the dream world last night. And what comes after that was not any better.

"Not that I _can't_ wake up," Len had said last night. "I just feel that I shouldn't."

I recalled taking a long pause, thinking whether to say something or not. I went with the former, coming up with a simple question. "Why?"

It was a question he didn't answer, at least verbally. On his face was a forlorn look that continues to haunt me even after I woke up. Such a deep emotion pouring out from that look alone… I wonder if it's something he recalled from his past.

"Daydreaming much, Kagamine-chan?"

My mouth is empty of food, I noticed after Megurine-chan's voice came into my hearing. I quickly picked another vegetable with my chopsticks just to make it less obvious that I am too occupied with my thoughts. "Sorry, Megurine-chan."

"Oh, not at all. But to be honest, I won't enjoy having you pondering all day here," she admitted straightforwardly. "I mean," she heaved a sigh, "I need some mood lifters. Please say something exciting."

I blinked. "Did something happen?"

"Uh, it's actually the same thing again as before so I'm not sure what to ask from you, Kagamine-chan," she said sheepishly. "I just want to get my mind off it."

"The guy from before?" I asked just to make sure, which she answered with a silent nod. "I suppose I have nothing to say about it, but maybe you should try to resolve the matter rather than just pushing it aside?"

"I guess so, but you know, I've been rather wary of him. Maybe it is time for me to confront him?" she said, eyes to the ceiling as if thinking of something. "I'm not sure myself if I'm doing things right, but maybe I should give it a chance—oh, Hatsune-chan!"

Miku-chan is indeed, standing next to the desk with her phone clutched in her hands. Being surprised at Megurine-chan's sudden outburst, she only managed to mutter an 'um' before Megurine-chan goes on, "I was wondering when that phone call of yours is going to end."

"Sorry for making you wait," Miku-chan said, dragging a chair next to me for her to sit.

Honestly, I have no problem with that, but that sure took longer than what I expected. "What is it, Miku-chan? Is everything alright?"

"Just some… family matters, but it's alright," she said, hesitating a bit with her words. I have no clue about Miku-chan's family, only that they didn't show up when I went to her house before. Her voice sounds calm, however, so I guess I have nothing to worry about. Miku-chan doesn't look like she wants to talk about it, though, and she eyed our lunch boxes instead and asked, "Have you two started eating?"

"We chatted a bit about this and that. It's not nice to talk with food in your mouth, after all," Megurine-chan answered her. "Anyways, since Hatsune-chan is now here, I had just thought about something exciting that I need to tell you. That is, we should go shopping together this Sunday."

"What is this all about?" Miku-chan asked before anything else. I am just as confused as her about Megurine-chan's whim, but Miku-chan's question alone is enough.

"Hatsune-chan, you have to hear me out," Megurine-chan whined just before she repeated what she said to me before. "I need something to, you know, entertain me to get my mind off from that guy."

"Um, sure," Miku-chan sounds like she doesn't know what to say otherwise. "I wouldn't mind going."

"Really?!" Megurine-chan asked excitedly. "I'll look forward for it, then! And you, Kagamine-chan?"

"I'll go, of course," I said, unable to resist her enthusiastic offer. Even with all this worry inside of me…

* * *

The first thing I noticed upon entering my house is the lit entrance. A pair of mid-calf boots lined up neatly just underneath the step, and the accompanying soft piano sound from the inside gave everything away. "Mom?" I called as I put on a pair of slippers.

The piano is placed in the living room, facing away from the entrance. From the bench, she turned and answered me with a greeting. "Welcome home, Rin-chan." The last notes she was playing were still hanging in the air when she greeted me.

I approached her, bag still hanging on my right shoulder. "You're early," I pointed out.

"Of course I have to. It's our anniversary after all, so I excused myself to come home early. Your father had booked a table for a dinner, you know."

"Oh," I uttered, realizing that mom and dad's anniversary didn't cross my mind at all. "Happy anniversary. I… totally forgot about it."

Mom gave me a light giggle. "It's alright, Rin-chan. We know you have school and other things to worry about. Besides, we didn't get to see each other this morning."

My mind traveled to last night's event at the mention of the word 'worry.' Shaking the thought off, I decided to talk about the anniversary instead. "That means dad's coming home early too?" I asked while finally letting go of my bag by putting it on the sofa.

"Right. He said he should be arriving in half an hour. I still got a moment, so piano," she said. It looked like she was going to resume her playing before breaking eye contact from the piano sheets, once again setting her gaze on me. "But while you're here, Rin-chan, let's just have a little chat. We rarely do this, don't we?"

I nodded, taking a seat on the sofa across her. "What is it that you want to talk about, Mom?"

"How you're doing, of course. I have to keep track of my daughter's life," she replied. "School-related stuffs are better discussed in a proper timing, so anything else eventful that you want to tell me, maybe?"

"That," I took a pause, "I'm going shopping with my friends this Sunday."

"Oh?" She raised her eyebrows. "Who is it? Someone from your class?"

I nodded. "She was my partner during literature project, but we have since gotten closer. I thought she was kind of a loner, but knowing her better tells me otherwise. She's a really kind person."

"Well, that sounds like a good friend," she smiled again.

"Only that… I don't really know a lot about her. She seems to have something bothering her that left her looking very sad and distant, but she never tells me what," I said. "I guess the best thing I can do is staying by her side."

"That is probably enough, though," she said. "Sometimes all you need is a company, even if no word is exchanged. I'm sure she's happy having you next to her."

"Not just me; there's another girl who likes to hand around with us lately. I'm sure she likes her as much as I do," I told her. "But I guess, being friends with her is enough for me."

I can hear another giggle escaping her mouth. "Of course. Just do what you can do for now, Rin-chan. I'm sure she'll eventually tell you about her worries later."

Her words bring a smile to my face. "Yeah."

Mom stood up from the stool, tugging a smile as she said, "I guess, I'm going to get changing now. Aren't you going to take a bath, Rin-chan?"

"Maybe later. I guess I'll wait for dad to come home first to wish him a happy anniversary," I answered.

"Oh, I have prepared a dinner for you. Go eat up while waiting if you want to."

"Okay, Mom. Thanks."

* * *

Sleep doesn't come to me easily.

It's still early evening, though. Mom and dad had quickly left the house after I finished eating dinner, and the bath was still warm when I got in. I have the house all to myself, but I decided to go straight into my room after finding nothing interesting to do. Getting some sleep is the best thing I can think of, especially after the restless sleep the day before. But of course, that very reason makes sleep itself harder to get.

A short notification sound from my phone broke the silence in my room. I rolled over to take a peek of it, thinking that it might be from my parents. It turns out to be a message from Kaito-kun that says, "Evening, Kagamine-san. I hope I'm not bothering you."

I stare at it, thinking if I should answer. It wouldn't be nice to ignore it—I have nothing better to do anyway—so I typed in a reply, "Not at all. What's the matter?"

"I just saw Miku-chan, here in the city."

Suddenly I feel very awake in this dimly lit room. Miku-chan is the city right now? That's quite distance to go during this hour. But she might not be alone, and I don't know what business she has there anyway. "Did you greet her?"

"I didn't get to talk to her. I think she avoided me after she saw me," was his reply, which is not surprising at all.

"Was she with someone? I wonder what she's doing," I asked him, despite knowing very well that it's none of my business.

"I didn't see her with anyone, at least not with someone I know," he said. "Didn't she tell you anything?"

"No, nothing at all," I answered. My thoughts wandered, imagining things that could happen to her… but I guess I shouldn't even think that far. Shaking the thought off, I wrote another message to Kaito-kun, "I hope things are going well with her. She's been in a good mood lately, so I guess things are okay. I don't know, though."

"I hope so," he answered. "It's nice to know that she's doing fine. Please continue to look after her on my behalf, Kagamine-san."

"Sure, I will," was what I have typed in, but another message from him came before I could send mine.

"And on our friend's behalf as well."

The other friend that Kaito-kun told me before… Just where is he when they need him?

* * *

 _Next Update: November 11, 2018_

 _Thank you for reading!_


	19. Chapter 19

Miku-chan is clad in a knee-length dress. Its vibrant blue color brings up a lively atmosphere, just like the clear blue sky. With a handbag clinging on her arm, she trots on her strapped sandals in a road packed with people. If the blooming daisies from the flowerbeds aren't lively enough, her visibly bright smile makes everything livelier.

A dream of a summer day…

And just then, she turned around, eyes wondering in curiosity. I don't usually hear voices in the dreams, but I can hear her clearly, calling out. "It's so crowded!"

Another person came into the scene as he catches up with her. He's dressed in a simple shirt paired with pants, fitting the weather. His blond hair struck as familiar to me, almost like…

"I'm glad we finally got to do this, Len. Let's go!"

Len. But no, not just like him. It _is_ him, in Miku-chan's dream. I can't be mistaken—I could hear her saying his name, there is no way I am mistaken. The sight of them walking side-by-side lays in front of me, and never once I saw Miku-chan _that_ happy.

And it is because of… Len? What is the meaning of this?

In the middle of my confusion, I looked around for him. There should be an explanation for this, I'm sure of it. How does exactly he appear in her dream? How does she know him? Suddenly there are so many things in my head that needs to be cleared up.

And much to my surprise, Len is standing not far behind me, also watching the scene before his eyes. Even though his face remains impassive, there are many conflicting emotions that I can see through his eyes.

He's clenching his hand.

"Len," I breathed out. "Miku-chan knows you… doesn't she?"

Only then he turns his head to me—very slowly. "Perhaps," he opened his mouth, "as much as I know her."

I got no more answer than that.

* * *

And despite everything, I went shopping with Miku-chan and Megurine-chan anyway.

After several hours of walking around the shopping mall (which we found very convenient since the weather outside is certainly not for shopping around), we stopped by a family restaurant near the station to have dinner—and to take some breather, of course—before going back home.

"I'm beat," said Megurine-chan as she plopped down the seat, bringing down shopping bags to the floor. "Let me just sit here for a moment before ordering something."

"Should I get us some food, then? What do you want to order?" Miku-chan, who hasn't seated herself, offered help.

"Um," Megurine-chan started with a bewildered face. "You don't have to take that seriously, Hatsune-chan. Besides, I'll have my energy back in a minute or so. Nothing to worry. And anyways, wouldn't that trouble you?"

Then it's my turn to question her, "Yeah, are you sure? I don't want to trouble you," I told her.

Miku-chan quickly shook her head. "No, I'm not troubled at all," she said before looking away. "I… I want to thank you for today. This is the least that I can do for you."

Megurine-chan offered her a smile in return. "You're welcome, Hatsune-chan," she told her. "Going out together with you was so much fun."

I saw Miku-chan's eyes widening slightly as she looked at Megurine-chan. Then she looked away again, with her gaze softening—on her face is a faint smile. "Yeah," she said.

It really was fun. I never knew that Miku-chan understands fashion very well, and seeing her being excited over something is a new sight. It is surprising me as well to see Miku-chan and Megurine-chan engaging in a lengthy conversation. It was a nice kind of surprise, nonetheless.

They also picked a hairband for me. Megurine-chan pointed out that my usual black hairband is too boring and I should have a change of look once in a while, which then leads to this navy blue checkered headband that I am wearing right now. The small bow adorning the hairband is the most prominent difference, though.

"You know, I've been thinking," Megurine-chan spoke suddenly, catching my attention—and Miku-chan's too. "You two are calling each other by name, so I guess you can just call me Luka as well. If you're comfortable with it, I mean."

She was saying it really carefully, almost like she's afraid that it would come out differently. That is an unusual thing coming from someone like her who usually speaks her mind. But of course, I see no problem with the request itself—I get that she wants to become a better friend, and that's not a bad thing. "I'd be happy to! Of course you can call me by my name as well, Megu… Luka-chan."

"Okay then, Rin-chan!" Luka-chan said. "I… I have no idea I'd be this happy to hear my own name from you…"

While the exchange is going, Miku-chan stands still by the table, looking at us with a somewhat worried look. I have no idea what causes that face, or what bothers her this time, but she seems to be too lost in her thoughts to notice me looking at her.

Luka-chan is the one who then called her, "Hatsune-chan." And that has successfully snapped her out of her thoughts. "Don't be afraid to call me by my name as well!"

"Oh, s-sure, Luka-san," Miku-chan hurriedly answered her—that look of worry hasn't left her face despite her surprise. "I… I guess, I'll get the food now. You're alright with the set menu, right?"

I noticed something off from the change of topic, but I'll go with it this time. "Well, if you're insisting on getting the food… Yeah, the set menu is fine," I told her with a smile. "And you, Luka-chan?"

"It's fine for me. I'll leave it to you, Hatsune-chan," she said.

With that, Miku-chan finally left the table. And as soon and she is out of the hearing range, Luka-chan spoke up, "I've figured that the - _chan_ is reserved for you, Rin-chan."

"Huh?"

"Shows just how much she treasures you," she continued. "I'd feel bad to break her feelings."

That caught my attention. "I wouldn't want to do that."

"I know you won't," she said with a faint smile. "Just… don't do anything reckless, then, Rin-chan. I'm afraid that someone's going to hurt badly."

She might be smiling, but her gaze pierces through me.

* * *

We got off at the same station, but Luka-chan's house is to a different direction.

"Aw, that's too bad. I still want to talk to you," she said. "Well, there's always tomorrow. See you at school!"

From my peripheral vision I can see Miku-chan waving her hand lightly while nodding at her. "Yeah. Please be careful on your way home," I told Luka-chan.

"Sure will! You two, be careful as well!" And with a final grin, Luka-chan turned away and started walking away to the other direction.

Then I turned to Miku-chan and gave her a small nod. "Let's go, then," I said, taking a step forward.

"Sure," she replied before following after me.

We both walked under the dim moonlight, with huffs of breath trailing behind as we tread on the barren street. The cold has turned the road empty, and now it's just the two of us walking. This town is a contrary to the city where life doesn't seem to end even in the coldest of the night.

Miku-chan keeps her gaze ahead, seeming to be unbothered by the silence as she doesn't attempt to start a conversation. I don't mind the silence, but I've been waiting for the right moment to ask about Len. "Miku-chan," I called her.

"What is it?" She turned at me—and that's when I realize I have no way to keep the conversation going. How am I going to ask about Len? It's not like I can tell her that I meet him in the dreams—she would think that I'm making things up. I didn't think through this before calling her.

At last, Miku-chan called me again after receiving no answer. "Rin-chan? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything's fine," I blurted out without thinking.

Unexpectedly, she turned on her heels and faces me, her steps coming into a halt. I had no choice but to stop walking as well. "Rin-chan," she began. "I… I know you probably don't expect me to notice, but you look rather troubled for the whole day. Is it something that you want to talk about?"

She caught me red-handed just like that. Sure, I am aware of my own feeling, but I didn't think it would show through. I wonder if she's bothered by this; I actually start to feel bad. "Can I ask you something, then?"

There is a flicker of doubt on her face, but she answered anyway, "Yes, ask ahead."

I gave her one final glance before I let the words out, "Kaito-kun said he saw you yesterday. What were you doing out there in the night?"

If it isn't so cold already, I would have thought it was the silence that drops the temperature down. Miku-chan avoids my gaze, eyes looking elsewhere for an answer. I've figured that this isn't an easy question for her, but… I told her what she wants me to, but now I'm not too sure anymore.

After what seems like forever, her voice came, "Right. Kaito-kun doesn't like being called by his last name."

I thought I was mishearing when I heard the smile in her voice, but I wasn't. She's actually smiling; a nostalgic smile from reminiscing about the good old days. When they used to be close, I assume.

"I'm so sorry," I said in low voice. "Actually, I've been talking to Kaito-kun for these few weeks. He told me things about you, like how you two used to go to the same school, or how you were friends with him."

I paused to take a look of her face, but it's hidden as she decided to turn away from me. I don't think this conversation is going well. "I know that it's still my fault for not telling you anything about this, but… Kaito-kun is concerned about you, Miku-chan, even though you're not in good terms with each other—"

"I don't hate him or anything," she quickly interjected. Needless to say, I was taken aback with her response. For sure, she didn't show that attitude to him before, although I wouldn't know better.

A car passes by. Its bright headlight against the otherwise dimly lit street almost blinded me. During that exact same time, Miku-chan turned her head to me, but it's hard to make the expression on her face with the light shining from behind. She waited for the car to vroom away before she goes on, "I know that my attitude might have strained our relationship, but I don't have any hard feelings towards him. I'm just…"

Saying nothing, I waited for another word from her.

"I'm just…" she repeated her word. She starts to feel uneasy, I noticed. "I'm just afraid that I would break down if I were to talk to him about the truth."

"About…" My voice came out unconsciously, and thankfully it wasn't too late to stop. "Miku-chan?"

Her eyes are glossed with tears, but none of them are willing to fall off. _She_ is too stubborn to let them fall off, and that's a very Miku-chan thing to do. Only this time, she keeps her head up.

"I'm going to cry," she stated. "I… I shouldn't cry."

I don't know what she's referring to; what will happen if she told Kaito-kun the truth, or what is happening _right now._ But with those turquoise eyes brimming with tears, perhaps she's talking about the present time.

"You know," she stared at me. "I always feel that I have to stay strong for everyone around me. This isn't right, but I can't help it."

Is that why she always has that hard look in her eyes? Or why she straight up avoids getting too close to other people, so that people won't see her when she crumbles down? And what makes it more awful is that she acknowledges that truth very well.

I put up a smile on my face even though it's hard to do. I have to reassure her. "But at least, I've seen your crying face. I know that you can't be strong all the time, Miku-chan."

Her tears finally fall. Her soft sobs filled in the silence. "Yeah," she said in a whisper-like voice. "I know that as well, Rin-chan."

* * *

 _Next Update: November 21, 2018_

 _Thank you for reading!_

* * *

FeldsparJay — Yes, there's going to be romance between them, but... Idk, I left out the romance tag for some reason? I want to focus more on the friendship for now, but do I plan on shifting the focus in the future. Thanks for leaving a review!


	20. Chapter 20

I didn't bother Miku-chan with any question the following week after that. We didn't even steer from school-related topics during our conversation in the class. Sometimes we talked about the weather, or even about lunch, but that's pretty much it.

She did, however, invited me to come to her house at Sunday. She also asked me to invite Kaito-kun, which led me to ask, "Are you sure about this, Miku-chan?"

"This cannot go forever. And I owe him an apology," she said without looking at me. "I also want to tell him something, but I… I don't think I can do this all alone."

Of course I didn't decline the request, but it's really worrying me.

That leads to the present day, where I'm walking to Miku-chan's house in a Sunday afternoon. Kaito-kun told me that he will come as well, but we didn't agree on a time. He'll be coming from the train station anyway, so I guess we'll just see each other in Miku-chan's house.

But then I heard a call. "Oh, Kagamine-san."

I turn around to see Kaito-kun behind me. He's clad in a beige coat with the ever-same dark red scarf wrapped around his neck. "Kaito-kun," I exclaimed, "I didn't think I'd see you here." The train station is on the other side of the road, so I wonder why.

"I arrived here earlier. I thought I might go around the neighborhood," he casually put his hands in his pocket while saying that. "It's peaceful in here."

"Compared to the city, I guess so," I told him. "Less vehicles, less crowd… There are less things to do here, though."

His eyes searched for something for a moment. After a short while, he proceeded to casually point at the plastic bag I'm holding. "What's that?"

"Mikan oranges," I answered. "Best to enjoy together while it's in season. And well, Miku-chan said she'll have food prepared. I'd feel bad just walking in without bringing anything."

"True. I'm bringing a tub of ice cream myself. Vanilla flavored; it'll go well with the mikans," he chuckled, raising up a tote bag for me to see. "Anyway, we should get going, Kagamine-san."

I gave him a nod before we started walking to Miku-chan's house.

Not long after that, Kaito-kun gave me a question, "The invitation is a surprising thing from Miku-chan. Why the sudden change of heart?"

I glanced at his general direction, coming to the realization that I hadn't explained it to him. "I told her that we've been in contact."

And to think about it, I asked her about what she was doing in the night before. I never got any answer as she ended up crying in my arms, but to be fair, I forgot that I even asked as soon as the tears came down. It was a rough night.

"Well, I figured that one out. That's why she asked you to invite me along."

"Yeah, but… She said that she doesn't hate you." I can see him raising an eyebrow without having to turn my head. "I can't say much myself, but she's having a hard time. She certainly wants to set things right again between the two of you, though."

This time he scratched his head in frustration. "I wonder when it _finally_ gets to her that telling her problem might at least ease it. What's her deal anyway?"

I am wondering about the same thing, but I guess it's easier to say than done. "Anyways, she said that she wants to tell you something. I have no idea what it might be about, though."

"So I guess I'll just have to show up to know, huh?" he smiled uncomfortably.

We didn't talk a lot for the rest of the walk, but Miku-chan's house was only a minute walk away by the time the conversation ended. The brief silence makes my thoughts wander, though. I haven't seen Len for a while, and I'm not quite sure if that's a good thing or not. He might be waking up already, which would be a good thing for sure, but I _don't_ know anything. It's making me feel uneasy.

"Kagamine-san," Kaito-kun called up suddenly. "Do you happen to…"

He trailed off as I turn my head at him with a questioning look, then he pursed his lips. "No, I mean… You met Miku-chan for the first time during high school, right?"

"Yes?" I answered, not getting what he's trying to ask.

"Never mind, actually," he quickly said. "We're here."

We both turned our head to the doorstep after our footsteps halted. I'm waiting for him to walk up and ring the bell, but it seems that he's doing exactly that as well, although in the end he walked ahead and rang the bell.

The door swung open, revealing none other than Miku-chan herself. I could see the slight surprise reflected in her eyes before she quickly directed her gaze downwards at the sight of Kaito-kun. "You came," she quietly said.

"I always come," he answered.

Hesitantly, she looked up to meet his eyes once more. The look in her face is full of remorse, but her eyes softened when her gaze fell on something—the dark red scarf. "You always have that scarf on."

"It's made for me," he said. "And I'm really grateful for that."

A moment passed with no words exchanged between them, until Miku-chan spoke, "I don't think I can even forgive myself for this."

"I forgive you," he said with no hesitation. "What's the point of not forgiving yourself?"

"I haven't even apologized yet," she chuckled, giving a side glance. She took a deep breath, then exhaled it with a slight smile curled on her lips. "I'm sorry for all this time."

Kaito-kun shook his head. "It's not a matter for me. Aren't you being too hard on yourself, though?"

"I guess so," she smiled at him, yet a far away look on her eyes. She stepped back to make a space, then said, "Well, please come in. I feel bad for not allowing you in earlier; it must be cold out there."

"It's alright," I spoke up. "I'm just glad that things have gotten better now."

Miku-chan's face turned red, as if she has just realized that I've been watching the two of them for the whole time. "O-of course, Rin-chan!" she quickly said before disappearing into the house.

Walking past me, Kaito-kun tailed behind her, but not before turning back at me with a grin on his face, "Thanks, Kagamine-san!"

I smiled back at him.

* * *

"Whoa, this is a lot!"

I peered over Kaito-kun to see what made him exclaim that, and I become awed at the sight as well. There are several dishes served on the table; one huge pot of oden, some servings of curry, grilled mackerel for each one of us, pork cutlets, a plate of salad, and that's not forgetting the rice and miso soup. I'm not entirely sure if I can stomach all of them since _that_ is a lot.

"I got a little bit carried away. You know, it's not everyday we can eat together like this," Miku-chan said while looking visibly flustered.

That raises a question. "Did you make all of this by yourself, Miku-chan?" I asked.

"Yeah, with some help from cookbooks and recipes from the internet," she said.

"I mean, no one's helping you or anything?" Kaito-kun asked.

With a straight stare into his eyes, Miku-chan answered, "No. I'm here all by myself, after all."

Oh, so she lives alone, then? That explains why no one was home when I went here last time, and Miku-chan also mentioned about how _she_ didn't get the chance to open up the curtains that day. This is a _house_ for her to live alone; no wonder she seems to be really busy. I can't even imagine doing the chores all by myself. "And your family?"

"None," her eyes lingered away. "My parents had died."

"Oh." I suddenly feel guilty for asking such a careless question. I should have been more careful with these kind of topic. " _Oh_. I'm… I'm so sorry for asking that. I didn't mean to—"

"It's alright. It was really long time ago, anyway. I barely even remember how they look like," Miku-chan said with a light chuckle, and something from that is telling me that she's actually being honest with her feeling. "I used to be told that I'm the last Hatsune from my grandfather's lineage, since my father was a single child. Mother was one too, so I don't know any relatives in my whole life… But you know, it gives me courage to move on with my life, knowing that there's no one else bringing this name but me."

I thought that Miku-chan is being honest with her feeling, but hearing her suddenly talking _a lot_ about her family is somehow unsettling—like it's going to go wrong. I don't know what makes me feel this way.

"W-well, that's all about me, I guess," she said in a quieter tone. "Let's eat. The oden is going to get cold."

My eyes went back to the huge pot on the table. It's still steaming hot, but it won't stay that way for too long, just like what Miku-chan said. "Right."

I saw Kaito-kun giving a glance at her just moments before we sat down on the chair, but he said nothing about it and proceeded to pick up his chopsticks.

" _Itadakimasu_."

Miku-chan's cooking tastes great. It's understandable since she's probably used with cooking, but it's still impressive. And it appears that I'm not the only one thinking that way. "This is good," said Kaito-kun after the first sip of broth.

She cautiously looked up from her bowl, looking at him for a good moment before saying thanks to him, almost dismissively. The whole exchange just makes me wonder about how their relationship used to be, but maybe that's not it. It almost feels like there's an uncomfortable tension in the air, despite the fact that they just reconciled minutes ago.

Kaito-kun finally opened his mouth halfway through the meal, though. "Hey, Miku-chan."

"What is it?" she asked, sounding indifferent.

"You never told me about your family before, so now I get it that you don't have an aunt," he said. "But it was _your aunt_ who told me about this place; that you're now living here."

The look in her eyes is not so indifferent anymore.

"I met her when I visited the house you lived in during middle school. We talked for a little bit, and she said that she's your aunt. Or did I get something wrong?"

"No, she… She's not really my aunt—she's my aunt in a way, but…" Miku-chan said quickly before ending it abruptly. "I thought we had enough talk about that. This isn't about me."

"It's about you, though, Miku-chan," Kaito-kun pressed on. "You said that there's something you want to tell me?"

"It's not really about my family," she said, looking away to avoid his stare.

"Did something happen between you and Len, then?"

I snapped my head to Kaito-kun. He said Len, didn't he? I'm not too sure, but I doubt I'm mishearing. He doesn't appear to notice my bewildered look, as he's too occupied with Miku-chan.

"It's nothing like that," Miku-chan said, keeping her voice calm while putting her hands on the table—and I only noticed that she had put down her chopsticks.

"How can you be so sure about that? Where is he, anyway? I keep calling and messaging him, but he never answers. He actually said something to you?"

Now she puts away her hand from the table altogether. "It's not that—"

"What is it, then?"

She flinched at his sudden retort, then glanced up to meet his face afterwards. "I can't answer them. The calls and the messages."

Miku-chan stood up abruptly, going to Kaito-kun's side, and shoved something into his hand. As he happens to be sitting next to me, I get a good look of what the item is—a phone, with the lock screen filled with notifications. The most recent ones are from Kaito-kun himself.

 _I'm going to Miku-chan's house. Maybe_ _you wanna swing by?_

Nothing seems off from that message, except the message itself. It sounds like a message not directed at Miku-chan. He might have just sent the message to a wrong contact, is what I thought. But then I saw another message from him sent not long before that:

 _Len? You're there?_

That phone is…

Kaito-kun quickly tore his gaze away from the phone. "Miku-chan, what's going on?"

"Len," she choked out, voice trembling. Tears are now welling up in her eyes. "He's…"

* * *

 _Next Update: March 1, 2019_

 _Thank you for reading._


	21. Chapter 21

I just closed my eyes and let everything dissolve into nothingness—the feel, the sound, and the weird lingering taste on the back of my tongue.

It's hard. It has always been hard, but everything seemed to change for the worse ever since father died, and it's not just for me.

It was a restless sleep, but I would sometimes feel otherwise. It felt like I was actually awake, except that I knew it better that I wasn't. I wouldn't feel _this_ awake if it was the reality. There is no way it could be anything other than a dream.

White stretched out beyond my eyes. Glass-like surface extended the sky below my feet. It felt like I won't be able to reach the end of this place, but it's not a bad thing. There is nothing holding me back.

Sometimes I would even see other people dreaming. I couldn't talk to them, I couldn't touch them, I was just like the thin air watching over the scene. They leave as soon as their sleep is interrupted, but I would just go to search for someone else's dream.

Dreams aren't always pleasant. Unpleasant dreams happen often as well. I would stay anyway, watching through the whole ordeal. It wouldn't be fair if I run away from the nightmares. I'd see everything; through happiness and through sadness, hoping that the nice dreams would last, and the bad dreams would end.

I didn't feel lonely.

But everything would go back to how it was when I opened my eyes. It was the weight on my chest and the suffocating air that reminded me. And the pang of loneliness…

I didn't always wake up in some kind of pain, but even during the times when I could move around just fine and function like a normal human being, it didn't get any better. I couldn't do much help to ease her hardships, anyway. I couldn't do anything for her.

I know things were hard, but it was… hard knowing that.

So I just closed my eyes and let everything dissolve into nothingness—the worry, the loneliness, and the helplessness for not being able to get that pained smile off her face, even just for once.

Sometimes I wished I could just stay in the dreams forever. I wished I could run around freely. I wished I had nothing to worry; not father's death, not my own health, not that pained smile…

You know, you don't have to stay strong and fake a smile when I'm asleep, Miku. Maybe you would be happier that way.

* * *

"Len-kun is asleep."

I heard the words from the nurse, but I can tell that much by myself. On the bed is who she calls 'Len-kun' who appears to stay in an undisturbed sleep despite of the loud footsteps of four people trying to rush into the room.

It went in a blink. In one moment we were sitting in Miku-chan's dining table, and in the next one all three of us were rushing in the hospital corridors. The stares are inevitable, but Kaito-kun didn't stop even just for a moment. Only before we got into the room, the nurse caught up with us, which led us into this situation.

Kaito-kun quickly rushed to the bedside, saying something I can't catch. Miku-chan followed after him, face visibly remorseful as she looked at Kaito-kun, then to the person on the bed. I stayed away from the scene, knowing well that unlike them, I don't know him well enough to feel a strong emotion towards the situation.

Except it's not entirely true. It's Len; the same Len I see in my dreams. There is no warmth on his deathly pale face, his eyes are tightly shut that there's no way I can see the color underneath, leaving only the shape of his face and those loose blond locks for me to recognize. But I know, _I just know_ , that it's him.

"He's not always asleep," came the nurse's voice again, with the heels of her shoes click-clack-ing against the tile. She took the empty spot next to me, face kept straight to the bed. "But that's not saying that he's sometimes awake, either. Of course he wakes up sometimes, but that's just as much as being physically awake could be."

Kaito-kun turned to us. "And what you mean by that is…"

"Even when he's awake, he wouldn't even be aware that he's awake. Of course we have tried everything we can to bring that awareness back to him, but nothing seems to be working. Might actually become worse if this goes on."

"… How long has it been?" Kaito-kun asked again, this time with a cautious voice.

"Almost two years."

And I couldn't help but snapping my head to the nurse standing beside me. Almost two years of being in that state? Almost two years of being unable to wake up?

Suddenly I hear a sniffle. I looked back to the others and found Miku-chan crying. I can't see her crying, but it's obvious from the way she covers her face with her hands, and the sobbing. "I should… have told you earlier," she said between tears. "But I know I'd cry when I do. I'd break when I do. I… am so sorry, Kaito-ku—"

"Hey," Kaito-kun's voice cut through as he clamped her wet cheeks with his hands. "You shouldn't have gone through this all alone."

His voice was slightly trembling. I can't tell if he's crying or not since he's facing away from me, but I guess it doesn't really matter.

My eyes almost wandered back to the figure on the bed when I felt a light tap on my shoulder. I turn to see the nurse looking at me. "Let's give them some moment," she said before walking towards the door.

I slowly nodded to her, feeling like I had no other choice. Before leaving, I glanced back at the bed, seeing Len still sleeping in a ghastly serene. The murmurs from the bedside go on in the background.

He doesn't stir.

* * *

"Isn't it upsetting?" The nurse started a conversation as soon as we took a seat near the nurse station. She asked the question without looking at me, her brown eyes are kept ahead as if staring far away.

"Sure," I replied. "I can't really imagine being in their position, but it is upsetting. I don't know who's taking it harder right now, or maybe it's equally hard for both of them." For Miku-chan, having to go through it by herself must be hard, but I don't think Kaito-kun takes the news any easier. It's about their friend, after all.

Suddenly I found her eyes on me, looking at me with warmth. It helps that her eyes are brown, but that gentleness doesn't simply come from the color of her eyes. "You look pretty upset yourself, the moment you saw Len-kun."

And I'm not going to lie about it. _I am_. Having a familiar face I thought I wouldn't even see suddenly brought into my vision is upsetting in a way. I finally heard Kaito-kun saying the name of their friend that was always left unmentioned and immediately suspected that it's the same person I see in the dreams. Of course I'm aware of it. But it's hard to accept that… that now I can see him, confined to bed, mostly dependent on IVs to keep on going. Unlike the Len that I see in the dreams, who has a strange mysteriousness yet a very friendly person, the one who I enjoy the company of, the Len that I just saw is barely even alive.

It is upsetting.

I heard a soft sigh from her. "I know that it's hard to accept. You won't think something like this would happen." She turned away again, "Back then, Miku-chan didn't take the news really well. I don't think anyone would, but things had been really rough for her at that time."

As if this alone is not bad enough… "May I ask what happened?"

"Her father had just died some months before."

Suddenly it feels as if something has just punched me in the stomach. But in the middle of that, I can't help but thinking, didn't Miku-chan said that her parents had died long time ago?

"It's _their_ father, actually. You see, Miku-chan was orphaned from a very young age, and she'd been living with Len-kun's family ever since. Len-kun's father was a single parent himself, so it was a family of three," she said, answering my question at once. "With their father gone, it's just the two of them left. And now with Len-kun being in this condition…"

She stopped for a little while, a look of pity plastered on her face. It's quickly gone the moment she opens her mouth again, "You're probably wondering why I know so much about them."

"I am," I answered.

"I've known them for a while. Len-kun often came here, and Miku-chan would tag along. It is a small hospital and the only one in the town, after all. It's natural that we know each other," she said. "And Miku-chan… Miku-chan was a very bright girl, you see. With a single parent and a sickly brother, she's the one who _ought_ to stay optimistic, I guess."

Miku-chan of the past was a bright person, even Len himself told me that.

"But then their father died and… I guess that optimism was gone. And then Len-kun…" she trailed off, voice slightly strained in the end. "I know that she thinks Len-kun will leave her too. I even remember her saying, 'I can't afford losing anyone anymore,' and she actually cut contacts with her friends. Barely anybody came to visit, save from their aunt and a friend I never got to see."

"That's…" I am at loss for words, and I have no idea why I even started speaking. I finally know the cause of her behavior when I first met her, and I'm not sure what to feel. "That's horrible."

"But well, since you're here, I guess that's not true anymore." I didn't turn to look at her, but I can almost hear the smile in her voice. "You're Rin-chan, right? Short blond hair and black hairband; Miku-chan told me about you."

"She did?" I asked for no particular reason. I don't think I should be surprised that the nurse knows my name, but… But I don't know, really.

"Yes. And it's obvious how happy she looks like when she does," she said. "I haven't seen Miku-chan being that genuinely happy for a long time. I mean, sure, there are things to worry about, but it's better not to be worried all the time. I'm glad that Miku-chan finally does that."

Things to worry about… And the fact that I am here is…

Forcing a smile, I looked at the nurse. "I'm happy hearing that."

* * *

"I know the reason why I'm here," I told Len the time we finally meet again in the dreams.

The look he gives me afterwards is full of melancholy. He's not smiling or frowning; he's just looking at me with those blue eyes. The eyes I couldn't see, the eyes Miku-chan cannot see…

"Miku-chan," I said, finding it hard to let out the words. "Miku-chan had always been… distancing herself away from everyone just to stop her from hurting even more. Although I know she's also hurting by doing so. Isn't that ironic, if you think about it?"

His eyebrows furrowed, but his lips are still pressed altogether into a thin line. He's not going to say anything, is he?

"And it turns out that it's _you_. You're the one who took Miku-chan's smile away. Don't you know how hard it's been for her? You don't. You don't even _remember_ who she is."

I'm gritting my teeth. I'm feeling terribly upset.

"I thought Miku-chan is important to you, just as much as how important you are to her. I thought you would make sure that she's happy. I was sure of that!"

I can feel my clenched hands trembling in anger. And as my breath starts to race, I feel the urge to let out the emotion welling inside of me.

"But you have no idea! Miku-chan is hurting because of you! She's afraid that she'll lose you, don't you understand?!"

My anger is suddenly taken over by the overwhelming emotion coming from those words. I was so close to hitting him, as my hand is raised up when I realized it. But now those anger is just gone, and all I feel is this pain in my chest.

The image of his slumbering figure flashed through my mind. The thought of… It's not even about Miku-chan's feeling anymore. _I_ don't want him to stuck asleep in the real world. _I_ don't want to lose him.

I'm too disturbed with the thought that I didn't realize Len is stepping closer to me, and suddenly I'm wrapped in his arms. I can feel him—his warmth, his breath, his heartbeat, his life.

"Wake up," I cried. "Please wake up."

* * *

 _Next Update: March 11, 2019_

 _Thank you for reading!_

* * *

Ewerton Da Silva Rodrigues — I hope you got your question answered by now. Thanks for the review!


	22. Chapter 22

Shortly after, we found ourselves back in the room. I'm sitting on the sofa, wrapped with in blue scarf Len gave me. It's the scarf he usually wears, I noticed, and on a closer look, it actually has the same pattern as Kaito-kun's dark red one…

I peered up when I heard a soft _thunk_ coming from the table. Len is putting a cup of tea in front of me, eyes watching me with a slight wariness.

"Here, for you," he said before walking away to take a seat across the table.

I looked into the cup, watching the surface still rocking gently. "Thank you," I said before reaching for the handle, holding the steaming cup of hot tea carefully so it won't burn my hand. As I'm bringing the cup closer to my mouth, the smell reaches my nostrils, leaving a familiar feeling. This smells exactly like the tea Miku-chan served in her house earlier.

"Have you calmed down?" Len asked while I'm sipping down the tea slowly. It tastes just like how it smells—it's good. I have no idea where he brings these from, though, I don't think I ever saw a kitchen here.

"Yes. Thank you," I said, averting my gaze away. "I'm sorry about your scarf. It must've gotten really dirty with tears and…"

"No problem," his answer is short. "I'm sorry, that's the least I can do."

"Not at all! This helps, a lot," I quickly said. I might have thought that scarves have nothing to do with comfort, especially after I bawl my eyes out. But oddly enough, having this scarf wrapped around my neck gives off a warm, fuzzy feeling that certainly gives me comfort. "And I'm sorry for suddenly lashing out at you. I… I got too emotional."

"I guess you have the right to," he said, with a hint of uneasiness audible in his voice. "Maybe you can talk about it, now that you've calmed down."

Placing the cup back, I can hear another _thunk_ as the ceramic hits the wooden table. I finally looked up to face him in the eyes, at last. It really doesn't feel like he's being his usual self; I wonder if it's okay to talk to him right now. But he asked me to, so I guess it's alright.

"The reason why I'm here," I began, "is to wake you up."

And as expected, doesn't say anything. His face is straight, so it's hard to guess what he's probably thinking. But I certainly have never seen him being this restless before.

"As you already know it, I want to see Miku-chan smiling. I did what I can, even from this place by wishing her good dreams. But she would always have this faraway look even when she's smiling, like there's still something that can't leave her mind no matter what, and that's because you…"

… don't wake up.

I went on without finishing my previous sentence. "I know how important you are to Miku-chan. I know that you can bring her smile back, just by opening your eyes and be by her side. I'm sure of that," I said, before adding in a small voice, "even though I don't know if you remember anything about tha—"

"I remember."

His voice rang clearly in my mind, and suddenly I am at loss for words.

"I remember," he repeated himself. "Everything. Even the reason why I'm here."

I held my breath. I wasn't expecting this.

"I'm here because I'd rather be here than in the world over there. It is my own choice to stay here," he said, eyes looking away from me. "I hope you don't really mean it when you said I can bring Miku's smile back, because I know that I can't. I'm sorry to disappoint."

I can feel a stab in my chest. It's not even about me, but it hurts hearing that, as if I was just being deceived. I… I honestly don't know what to feel.

"W-what makes you think that way? We don't know for sure, but why don't you just… Isn't she important to—"

"It's because she's important to me."

His voice is firm and loud. He's not shouting at me, but it was startling enough for me to jump slightly. It's unusual for him to talk in such an aggressive manner. But despite of that, the look on his face is full of sorrow.

He hung his head down, hiding away his face from me, and spoke with a voice barely sounding like a whisper, "I can't do anything for her."

Usually I'd see Len being all happy and carefree. He can get serious if the situation needs him to, but I see him smiling more often. I don't like seeing him this way, but it's not the right place to ask him what is wrong. I can only wonder.

I don't know anything about what is going on between him and Miku-chan, but especially about Len himself. I know that the situation is hard for Miku-chan, but I don't know how it is for _him_. Straight up asking him to wake up is very selfish indeed, when he has his own reasons to stay here.

I really don't have the right to do anything, do I?

* * *

I approached Miku-chan's desk after the last period has ended. I haven't even packed in my stuffs, afraid that she would have left if I do that first.

She stopped packing her stuffs when she saw me standing next to her desk. "What is it, Rin-chan?" she asked, her eyes showing genuine curiosity.

It was just yesterday when she had to break the news about Len, but she seems to be dealing with it well and went back to her usual self quickly. In her defense, finally letting out the thought and the emotion that had bottled inside of her might have lifted a weight from her chest. She has been holding up for an awfully long time; surely it's gonna be somewhat relieving to let it out… even though nothing about that changes the fact that Len still hasn't regained consciousness.

She certainly takes it better than I do. But then again, I didn't think it would affect me this much.

"I'm just wondering if I can go to your house today," I said.

There is a look of doubt on her face. Her eyebrows knit, seeming to disagree with my idea, but she tried to hide her expression by looking away from me.

"Uh, it's alright if you don't want me to," I told her. "I think it's just, you might need some company. Being alone must be…"

I trailed off, suddenly realizing that it might be a rather sensitive thing for her. I really don't have to remind her of the situation, even though I know she doesn't _need_ to be reminded about it.

Her response is not what I'm expecting, though. "I'd appreciate it, if it's alright with you, of course."

"Of course it's alright! I'd be happy to," I said. "Let me pack my stuff first, then."

Miku-chan is already waiting in front of the class when I finished packing my books and other belongings into my bag. Together, we walk out from the school yard, then through the chilly street.

At some point, Miku-chan started a conversation. "You know, Rin-chan," she said, "I don't have anything to hide from you. That's why I think it's alright to have you around."

Before I could say a word, she quickly waved her hand in an apologetic manner. She sputtered out, "T-that might come out wrong! I mean, not that I wouldn't enjoy your company otherwise, but I think I can be more honest to you. After all, I think I really owe you a lot of explanation about…"

She trailed off. Pain flashed on her eyes for a brief moment as she pulled her lips into a thin line. I can tell that even the thought alone hurts her.

"I understand," I told her. "Anyway, I'm really happy that you're letting me come over. Thank you so much, Miku-chan."

"No, I should be thanking you," she said with a smile. "It's nice to have someone around, especially after our dinner got cancelled yesterday, kind of."

"Oh, right, I'm really sorry about that! It must be a very impolite of us to not finish the dinner you have prepared, especially in that occasion."

"Y-you don't have to," she stuttered out. My apology might be too polite that it makes her feel uneasy, but it is my bad for not apologizing earlier. "I wasn't expecting that as well. I mean, I knew that I'll break the news. I just didn't know how to, and how it would turn out. I forgot that Kaito-kun can get impulsive sometimes."

Right. Kaito-kun was the first to storm off after Miku-chan told him about their friend, even before she could get to the details. That's the reason why we were running in the first place.

"Miku-chan, you did great," I said. "I'm impressed. I know that it hurts you just by thinking about it, but you pulled yourself together despite of that. And I can see that you're dealing well with it, even after yesterday's events." Sure, when I certainly don't.

"Well," there is a pause between her words, "Len might be still asleep, but with you two knowing, it's… I feel like it will be easier for me to go through this."

It's the most honest voice I ever heard from her. I should be happy for her, if that's what she really thinks. I really should be happy.

 _"_ _I hope you don't really mean it when you said I can bring Miku's smile back, because I know that I can't."_

"Hm?" Miku-chan suddenly stops in her track. Her house is already within the range of vision, and standing in front of the porch is Kaito-kun. With a school bag slung on his shoulder, I assume that he just got back from school as well.

Upon noticing us, he turned around to face Miku-chan. After a moment of sending silent stares to each other, she strode ahead, approaching him in a haste. Surprised by her sudden action, I slowly followed behind her while keeping a distance.

"What?" she asked, voice dripping with hostility.

He crossed his arms in front of his chest after hearing her response to his appearance in front of her house. "I came all the way from the city and 'what' is how you're greeting me?"

"I have the right to ask, though. You're in front of my house."

Even from this distance, I can see the frown on Kaito-kun's face clearly. "The ice cream I brought yesterday."

A moment passed without any word from either of them, until finally Miku-chan walked past Kaito-kun and said, "Come on in, you two."

His eyes followed her as she proceeded to unlock the door and walked into the house without looking back even once. After she's completely gone from sight, he turned to me.

"We're good," he said before I got the chance to ask. "We've reconciled yesterday, remember?"

"Yes, but…" I shifted my gaze away, still trying to make sense of their short conversation just now. "It's not really about the ice cream, is it?"

"I _do_ want the ice cream, though," he chuckled. "But you see, she invited me to come yesterday, after almost a year of no contact and another year of not being welcomed here."

"You must be happy," I told him.

"Well, sure I am, but it's more like… Now that I know about the situation, I'll do what I can do," he said. "I know that it's hard."

I nodded silently. The closest person Miku-chan can relate to is probably him.

"You were really good friends," I said after a while, "the three of you."

"We are," he said, a melancholic smile showing on his face. "That's why I won't ever let us apart."

* * *

 _Next Update: March 21, 2019_

 _Thank you for reading!_

* * *

EchoLinux — Oh wow I didn't think I'd see a reader from old-Dreamer time! Actually I planned some 'minor changes' for this rewrite but I guess now it's more than minor changes, but I'm glad that you like it. And thanks for the review, I really appreciate it!


	23. Chapter 23

"What took you two so long?" Miku-chan said. She's still waiting by the entrance hall for us to come in. "Aren't you cold?"

Kaito-kun quickly turned his head to her. "Nah, I was born in Hokkaido."

"What does that have anything to do with anything?" she retorted without bothering to look at him. "Please take a seat. Sorry if it's a bit messy."

Unlike yesterday, the house is in the same condition like when I came for the first time. It feels empty. With the curtains closed, there are barely lights coming in through the windows. But then again, having known the fact that she lives alone explains the situation well.

The lights are suddenly on. I noticed that Miku-chan is just as surprised as I am, then we both looked at Kaito-kun who stood by the switch.

"Thought you might need it," he said.

"Ah, yes," Miku-chan mumbled out. "I meant to do that. Thank you."

Miku-chan is looking busy by herself, mostly with tidying up books and magazines placed all over the place. She certainly wasn't expecting any guests. "Miku-chan, let me help you," I said.

"Oh, no, it's alright. It's not much to tidy anyway," she said. "Just take a seat while I'm bringing you some snacks."

I decided to go as she asked me to. "Okay, but please tell me if you need help."

"Yeah, I'll also help you," Kaito-kun echoed. He took a moment to look around the house, then came up with a remark, "Huh, but it's cool that you can take care of this house by yourself."

Miku-chan stopped just before she steps farther into the kitchen. She turned her head, giving Kaito-kun a glance before she walked away.

"Of course I can—I mean, um, sure. Thank you," she said, fumbling for words. She told us one more thing before disappearing into the kitchen, "But now you can just relax over there. I'll ask if I need some help."

"Okay. I'll be waiting for the snack, then!" Kaito-kun replied to her.

"W-why are you ordering me around now?!" Her retort came out as surprising for me, since I wasn't expecting her to say anything at all.

"I'm not ordering you around, though. Didn't you say that you're bringing us some snacks?" he called.

"It's for Rin-chan!"

And after her final response, he laughed, face full of amusement. "What was that?" he wondered out loud while leaning back to the sofa.

I can't help but smiling as I look at him. The banter entertained me for an obvious reason, it shows just how close they actually are despite the problem they just went through. It's a different kind of exchange than what I witnessed the first time I saw Kaito-kun.

"Was it always like that between you and Miku-chan?" I tried to start a conversation.

"No, actually. This is the first time I saw her acting that way."

"Huh?" It escaped my mouth before I knew it.

"I don't know, she had this big sister vibe. Maybe because she's the oldest of us three? Just some months older, but still." A laugh escaped his mouth. "She just seemed so mature."

She seems mature, and also independent, but then again she probably is. She was orphaned in a young age, then lived in a family with a single parent, and there's that thing about Len…

I shook the thought away. "Maybe she just doesn't know how to act toward you after being distant from you? I don't know, though."

"Well, yeah. She might feel awkward to act too friendly… Basically just Miku-chan being Miku-chan, so it's not a bad thing, really."

"Sorry to keep you waiting." Miku-chan's voice came from the corridor, which makes me turn my head immediately. After she entered the living room, she put down a plate of mikan oranges on the center of the table, and conveniently placed a tub of ice cream in front of Kaito-kun with a _thunk_.

I can almost hear a smile from his voice. "You're giving me some ice cream, after all."

"It's taking space in my refrigerator. And unfortunately, I know no-one else who would eat ice cream in the middle of winter," she answered with a straight face. "Why did I even ask if you were cold earlier…?"

"I've told you before, I was born in Hokkaido."

"I'm sorry, this is all I have," completely ignoring Kaito-kun's comment, Miku-chan said as she took a seat on the unoccupied sofa. "And we didn't get to eat this yesterday, even though you've brought these here…"

Oh, so those are the oranges I bought yesterday. "It's alright, this is enough. And while we're here, we can eat these together," I told her.

Her gaze stays on me for a moment. After that, she looked back to the oranges. "Right. While the two of you are here, I want to tell you something."

Already with the tub on his lap, Kaito-kun stops and turns his attention to Miku-chan instead. He hasn't had even a single spoon of the ice cream. Needless to say, I know where this conversation is heading to.

"Rin-chan," she began. "The person we visited yesterday is Len. Kagamine Len. We… Together with Kaito-kun, the three of us went to the same middle school."

"I've told Kagamine-san about that part. And that we're close friends…" Kaito-kun joined in, trailing off as he put down his spoon. "And in case you're wondering about it, it's not the same Kagamine as you are."

I remember the time when I introduced myself to Kaito-kun. For some reason, he had a look of surprise when I told him my name, like it has a ring to him. Now I know why—their friend has the same name.

"Actually, Kaito-kun," Miku-chan turned to him. "I… I never told you this before, even though I should have told you earlier, much earlier, maybe during middle school. But I'm not too sure how. I know you're my friend and all, but—"

"I'll appreciate it if you can just… say it," Kaito-kun said exasperatingly. "You know how long I've been trying to _get_ to you. Don't make me wait again."

Eyes wide, Miku-chan stopped in the middle of her sentence. I guess she wasn't expecting him to cut her. Shortly after, she turned away, hiding her eyes from him. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be."

There's uncertainty written all over her face—despite Kaito-kun's words, that's it. She gave him a final glance before going on. "Actually, I live together with Len."

"That's—" His response sounds like he reacted a bit too quickly. "What does that even supposed to mean?"

While Kaito-kun is clearly losing his composure, Miku-chan is quite the opposite, although it looks like she's trying hard to do so. "I don't remember much about it since I was still very young when it happened, but I was taken in by Len's family shortly after my parents' death. We've been living together since then."

"So… in other words, you're just like brother and sister?" he asked.

"Don't you ever wonder why we were always together?" she asked rhetorically. "I'm still a Hatsune, though. Len's father wanted me to keep that name—to keep the name alive, and as a reminder of my late parents. He was good friends with them. Actually, that's the reason why Len's family is the one who took me in; they were close enough to entrust me to him."

It's all silence for a moment, with Kaito-kun staring at Miku-chan wordlessly. She took the chance to go on. "I'm sorry that I just told you this now. We've been good friends… We're good friends. I'm afraid that it will ruin our friendship."

"Well, if that's what you're worried about…" Kaito-kun finally opened his mouth. "You're really worrying over nothing, you know. Like, okay, so now I know that you and Len grew up together, but you're still my friend. Len is too. How does that change anything?"

There's a change in Miku-chan's facial expression. A subtle one, but it's there—a mixture of surprise and gladness. "I guess," a small smile appeared on her face, "that's true."

"It's just, man, Len never told me anything about this," he said while picking up the spoon again. He opened the ice cream tub at last. "But he never tells me anything about himself, anyway…"

The same time he put a spoonful of ice cream into his mouth, I noticed that Miku-chan's eyes are on me. "Actually, Rin-chan, you know this already, don't you? Meiko-san told me that she told you about this."

"Meiko-san?" I asked her.

"The nurse from yesterday," she answered. "We've known each other for a long while. We're well acquainted."

Kaito-kun doesn't say anything, but he stared at her with face full of thoughts. Miku-chan doesn't tell him why she's acquainted with the nurse—Meiko-san—in the first place, so maybe he's thinking about that.

"Yes, she did," I said.

Miku-chan continued on, "Meiko-san has always been very supportive of us, from the time when we were still a family of three, until now, when there is only me around. Well, Len is here, but…"

"What exactly happened?" Kaito-kun asked. "Sorry that I'm asking this, but I feel like I'm really missing out a lot."

Shaking her head, she shrugged off his apology. "Father died. There's a possibility that it was from overworking, they said…" She took a deep breath. "But they're probably right. He was all on his own, working so hard and even putting himself aside for our sake. He might not be my real father, but his kindness feels so real; he's just as real as my real father."

The words sinked in, making my chest feel heavy. I've heard about their father from Meiko-san, but I didn't know the details until now. The loss is not easy to overcome; that's for sure.

I didn't dare to say anything, but Kaito-kun did. "That sounds like… it makes it harder, doesn't it," he solemnly said. "I'm sorry to hear that."

She shook her head again. "It's alright. It was rough, but we're trying to stay strong, especially since it's just the two of us. I know that Len wasn't taking it very well, though. It was taking toll on his health."

"Wait, was it when we were still in middle school—that time when he missed a lot of school days all of a sudden?" he asked.

"It probably was," she answered.

"You could have said something to me."

Miku-chan averted her eyes. "I know, but… I'm feeling conflicted myself. With father gone, it's really just us… living in the same house together. I don't know how people will respond if I let a word out."

Kaito-kun gave her a stare. Miku-chan wordlessly stared back, as if trying to get her words through. It seems like Kaito-kun finally gave in, sighing as he broke his gaze. "I know that it's personal, but maybe it'll be easier for you two if you told me. Aren't you taking it too hard?" he said exasperatingly.

"Maybe," she smiled. "Maybe we did."

We fell into another silence as the conversation stopped. It's not that we're running out of topic. It's like there are words hanging in the air, waiting to be said, but nobody dares to say it. Even Kaito-kun stops eating his ice cream again, urging Miku-chan to start speaking again. She doesn't.

"I miss him," Kaito-kun broke the silence after a full minute. "Remember the time when we went to the park together after school? We broke the swing."

It caught her interest. "I remember that," she said with a smile, so wide that it almost came as a laughter. "And we ended up in the district office, trying to explain the situation. Actually, weren't you suggesting that we should just run away?"

"I was panicking! I didn't think it would break," he said. "And it doesn't help that Len didn't stop laughing at me."

"But it was funny! The chains broke off right after you step on the seat… At least you weren't hurt."

"You were the one who started doing that!"

"I'm lighter than you, though!" she actually laughed at this point. "But well, we were all at fault. It probably wouldn't break if we just sit normally on the swing. What were we even doing?"

"Yeah, it was really weird." His eyes traveled to the ceiling, face full of reminiscence. "But when we're together, it feels like it doesn't really matter how weird it is."

Miku-chan looked away, hands clenched on her lap. The look on her eyes is uneasy, as if a thought is bothering her. Kaito-kun's eyes stay fixated up there, but his gaze hardened. A hint of sadness is present in his dark-blue orbs.

"There's nothing we can do but to wait, huh," he said, "without even knowing for how long."

He might be saying that with a rather composed manner, but the slight wavering in his voice cannot lie. And the overall look of his expression tells me everything. It upsets him as much as it upsets Miku-chan.

I was caught by surprise when he directed his words to me afterwards. "You have to meet him sometime, Kagamine-san," he said. "He's a really fun person to be around with."

I am completely silenced for a moment, unable to make any remark to what Kaito-kun just said. The thought of it leaves a pang in my chest because I know that Len is exactly like how Kaito-kun has described him, and I simply cannot imagine how it feels for them, his best friends. Being left is painful; being left in an uncertainty is more painful.

I cannot swallow down the lump in my throat. My voice sounds pathetic when I finally replied to him.

"Yeah."

* * *

 **A/N:** Hokkaido is the northernmost island of Japan where the city of Sapporo (where CFM is based in) is located. It's generally colder than the other region of Japan.

* * *

 _Next Update: April 1, 2019_

 _Thank you for reading!_


	24. Chapter 24

I huffed into my scarf as the winter air prickled my face.

The roadside is filled with various Christmas decorations, emitting warm, bright light. The town center is always much livelier compared to the neighborhood I'm living in, but even the Christmas lights doesn't make the weather feel less cold.

Various gifts are displayed behind the store's glass panes, catching my attention. Suddenly I feel like going inside and see what they've got in there—I might find something cute for Christmas present… but maybe I should go later in the weekend.

Earlier, I told Miku-chan that I want to visit Len. "I want to see how he's doing," I said.

Her eyes lit up, but her expression fell quickly as a realization came, "I'd like to come with you, but I got a deadline today."

"I recently took a part-time job," she said after I asked about the deadline. "Something to do with drawing that I can do from home, but I guess I'm still not really used with it."

To think about it, Miku-chan has been living on her own for a while… Does that mean she has to financially support herself? I wonder if she has to take part-time job regularly.

"Good luck, then. I know you can do it," I told her.

"Thanks, Rin-chan," she said, "but that means you'll probably have to go by yourself. Will you be alright?"

"It's totally fine! I shouldn't bother you when you have something important to do."

She gave me a small smile, "Yeah. Thanks again. We'll go together some other time."

And with that, I set my feet on this road, walking down the street leading to the hospital.

I'm not exactly sure why I decided to go in the first place. Well, yes, I told Miku-chan that 'I want to see how he's doing' and I'm not lying about that, but _why_ do I want to see him? Is it because of Miku-chan and Kaito-kun's story yesterday? Or is it because I just want to see him—see Len in this world, who stays in a deep sleep?

He said that it's his own choice to stay in the dream world, but does he really mean it? Not to mention the thing about Miku-chan… He sounds terribly upset when he said that, now that I think about it. I was too emotional myself to think clearly at that time, but now it does sound that way, doesn't it?

 _"_ _I can't do anything for her."_

Miku-chan's smile when she's reminiscing the moments spent with him doesn't tell me that, though. She cherishes those moments so much, is what I can tell from her face alone—

And I'm suddenly faced with a pair of blue eyes—and a very bright smile. "Rin-chan!"

I feel like my heart almost leaped when I found myself staring at Luka-chan, whose face is right in front of mine.

"Lu… Luka-chan?!"

"Well, that got your attention. I've been waving my hand and calling your name from meters away, you know," she said. "You mustn't space out when walking alone. That's dangerous."

"Right," I said, keeping my voice calm as I try to regain my composure. "Thanks for the reminder. And I'm sorry for not noticing you earlier, Luka-chan."

"It's alright. I'm more worried than anything. Glad to know that you're not too deep in your daydream… Daydream? It's almost evening, though," she giggled. "Anyways, what are you doing in this place? It's unusual to see you around here."

"Um, running an errand," I said the first thing that crossed my mind. "Do you go here often, Luka-chan?"

"Well, once in a while," she said, twirling her pink locks with her left hand. I noticed that she's still in her uniform as well; maybe she's also running an errand. "By the way, it's been a while since we last talked. Got a story to share? Oh, maybe we can hang out in the weekend?"

I just realized it now that it's almost been two weeks since we went shopping together. My mind is all about Miku-chan and Len lately; it doesn't even feel right to hang out leisurely. "That'd be great. I have a lot of things on my mind, though, I don't think I can go this weekend… Maybe some other time?"

"Ah, of course," she pulled her lips into a thin line, showing no particular emotion on her face. "Well, as long as you're not getting yourself into trouble, I suppose it's alright."

"I'll… try not to," I replied, slightly confused. I can even feel my eyebrows knotting at her statement. I thought she's talking about hanging out?

Before my thought goes on, a smile lit up her face. "Well, we don't really need to hang out. If you got something to tell, just hit me up."

"Yeah, sure will. Thanks, Luka-chan."

She glanced to a side before answering. "No worries. Oh, I think I gotta go. I guess see you tomorrow at school?"

"Yeah. Be careful on your way, Luka-chan," I waved at her.

"Same goes to you, Rin-chan. And don't space out again!"

She walked past me, the smell of her perfume accompanying her steps. As soon as her footsteps cease to sound in my ear, I resumed my own walk. Following her advice, I try to focus on my surrounding, but a feeling nagged my mind. There's something off about Luka-chan today… It's really just a feeling, though.

I shook my head and continue walking.

* * *

The room is in a complete silence, save for the humming machines. Even the clacks of my shoes sound so loud in comparison, disrupting the stillness. A weak ray of sunlight seeps through the closed curtains, leaving a faint breath of life, but the room is otherwise bleak.

If it isn't for the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest, I wouldn't know that he's merely asleep. Even the white lilies sitting on the table resembles life better than the state he is in.

"Aren't those fresh lilies?" a voice joined in from behind. I turn around and find Meiko-san on the doorway, like what I have expected. She gave me a small smile, then walked into the room, closing the door behind her.

"White lilies; a symbol of purity," she said. "I wonder who brought them here, assuming that you didn't, Rin-chan."

"I didn't," I said while taking a closer look at the flowers. It sure looks fresh; freshly picked, freshly placed. It must be from someone who came not long ago.

"Oh, it's not you?" She doesn't sound too surprised, though, and her face looks somewhat amused. "It remains a mystery, I guess."

"Huh?"

She walked slowly towards the bedside, not before passing by the table. "This isn't the first time, you see. Once in a while, someone would visit and bring those flowers here. I never get to see their face, though, maybe they just doesn't want to be seen," she said.

Could that be someone Len knows from middle school? In that case, Miku-chan would know who they are. "Has Miku-chan seen them? Maybe she knows who that person is," I asked.

She shook her head. "She hasn't, either. They always visits on a day when Miku-chan doesn't come."

"That's… really mysterious," I commented. But maybe they just doesn't want to be seen, like what Meiko-san said? Although, I don't know. How would I know?

"Sure it is," she agreed. "But as long as it's not doing any harm to Len-kun, I guess there's no problem with it. After all, I doubt anybody would want to taint those white lilies with bad intention."

"I believe so."

After standing by the bed for a little while, she finally reached to stroke Len's head. She does it very gently so that it won't disturb him, even when it's obvious that he won't be disturbed at all. His eyes stay closed, his breath calm and even; he's sleeping soundly.

"Isn't this the second time you see Len-kun?" she suddenly asked, hand still caressing his blond hair.

"Yes," I answered after a little pause. I've only seen him twice in this place, in this condition. The dream world is another matter—I don't even know if it can be taken into account.

"He was a good kid," she began, her eyes cast on his face. "Friendly to all, never seemed to run out of things to talk about, very energetic—as energetic as it allowed him to, anyway. He was just like that one friend you won't forget in your whole lifetime."

"I guess," I said. It is true, though. After all the things that had happened in the dream world, both the good things and the bad things, I don't think I'll ever forget about him.

Meiko-san stopped her movement and rested her hand on Len's head. "It must be lonely," she suddenly said, "having to be bound to the bed at times when the others are having fun out there."

My eyes fell on him. He still hasn't stirred.

"He never said anything about it, and acted like it's no huge matter, but maybe it does feel that way deep inside," she continued. "What I know for sure is that he's just as bad as Miku-chan at being honest."

The look on her eyes is really gentle. Not only she knows them well, but she also genuinely cares about them. Both of them are very dear to me, so I feel glad knowing that.

"You sure know them well, Meiko-san," I said, just a moment before coming to a realization. "I mean—Miku-chan told me that you're Meiko-san, so I don't know how else I should address you… Sorry if that came out rude."

"No, not at all!" She offered a smile in return. "I'm at fault for never introducing myself. Haigou Meiko. Just call me Meiko, really, that makes me feel less like an old lady."

I took that as a joke since she certainly doesn't look like an old lady. Actually she's far from that; I'm guessing she's still in her late twenties, maybe thirty at the most.

"Meiko-san is fine, then?" I asked for confirmation. "I never introduced myself, either. My name is Kagamine Rin, although I guess Miku-chan had already told you that."

"Yeah, she had," she nodded. "I was surprised when I first heard your name. I thought you might be related to Len-kun, but it seems that you're not. But well, if you were, Miku-chan would have told me long time ago."

She certainly would, with gleeful voice and radiant smile. I'm thinking about the difference it might make, if that really was the case. Maybe if I were a relative and knew them from the beginning, then Miku-chan and Len wouldn't have to struggle for living after their father's passing. And Miku-chan; she might not become the Miku-chan I know in the beginning of school year.

The thought crossed my mind—would Len be in the state he is now? Maybe all of this doesn't need to happen.

I notice a movement from the corner of my eyes. It caught Meiko-san's attention as well, as we both turned our heads to the bed and see Len stirring. All that happens is just him shifting his position by rolling to a side, though.

I heard a soft chuckle from Meiko-san. "Such a sleepyhead. What a nice dream it must be."

The mention of dream caught my attention. "How do you know that he's dreaming?"

"Well, I don't know if he's currently dreaming or not. But you see, we monitor his brainwave periodically, and it shows that he's likely to be dreaming," she explained. "What does he dream of during such a long sleep?"

"A lot of things," I mumbled out, but it surprised me that it sounds clear enough. I think Meiko-san can hear it. "I mean, if we can dream of going on a long adventure in a normal period of sleep, then surely he has seen many kinds of dream."

"Yes, probably. I hope those are good dreams."

What I actually meant is, I only met him some months ago, and we already went through a lot in that short span of time. If he has been sleeping long before our first meeting, then he's seen much more dreams. But of course I can't tell her that—it sounds too ridiculous.

Her eyes are fixed on his figure, looking like she's deep in her thoughts. Then she suddenly called my name, "Rin-chan."

"Yes?" I answered.

She looks hesitant to continue, which eventually leads her to dismiss it. "Never mind," she said. "But anyway, thank you for coming. Len-kun must be very happy to have you here."

Although I have this little doubt about that, I pulled a small smile nevertheless. "Yes, I hope so."

* * *

 **A/N** : Meiko's last name is taken from her VA's last name (which coincidentally makes her name the exact same as her VA's, Haigou Meiko). As for Kaito, his last name is taken from his VA's _first_ name.

* * *

 _Next Update: April 11, 2019_

 _Thank you for reading!_


	25. Chapter 25

Len greeted me with a heartfelt smile that night.

There's a lone bench in the middle of the dream world's nothingness—the one he's sitting on. The shape of it is just like what you would find in the park, but there's nothing within sight that can be enjoyed while having a seat over there.

Nonetheless, he asked me to come and join him by making a simple motion with his hand. I decided not to ask anything and joined him on the bench.

He started a conversation once I'm beside him. "I messed things up, didn't I," he said, quite straight to the point. "Deciding to stay in the dream world was a mistake."

"How is that a mistake?"

"I make people worry."

He's exactly right about that, but there's just something that makes me feel bad about it. "Well, that's…"

He threw me a glance. "That's true. I don't need to be told to know that." Then he let a hollow laugh escape his mouth, "And what about Miku? The nightmares she was having; it was because of me, isn't it? It's kinda ironic that I keep trying to wish her good dreams when it's also me who brought those nightmares. This is so messed up."

It's probably a mistake, a huge one at that, but is it his fault? I would think yes if I didn't know him better, but I do, and I doubt that he would willingly do something that will hurt Miku-chan.

"You know, these memories coming back to me—it makes me wonder why I even forgot in the first place," he said.

He's distraught; I can tell that. A part of him is feeling content, which is the reason why he smiled at me before, but he's mostly distraught. It's making me a bit uneasy, as the Len I know is more composed and lax. Now all that I can hear is the despair in his voice.

It's squeezing my heart in a weird way.

I reached for his hand as a reminder that I'm here by his side. It's a bit cold, but can still feel the warmth. I notice him flinching slightly from the sudden contact, but I don't plan on pulling my hand away.

"Sorry," he gave me a faint smile. "There's just so much coming at once, I don't know how to deal with all of this."

I shook my head. I don't know how it _feels_ to him, but I understand that it's not an easy thing to cope with. "There's no need to apologize," I said. "Maybe you want to talk about it? I don't know if it will help, but there's nothing wrong with giving it a try."

A soft chuckle escaped his mouth. "Sure. I don't know where to start, though."

He pulled his hand away and placed it on his lap. His posture looks stiff and unnatural; I can tell that he's feeling uncomfortable.

"You don't have to if you don't want to," I quickly retracted. It only came into my mind later that I don't actually mean those words—sure, I can't force him into telling me, but I _need_ to know. I don't think I'd be able to help if I don't know about the problem. There's that, and there's another reason.

"But, well, if I can be selfish, I want to know. I… don't know much about you. No, actually, I can say that I don't know anything about you, Len," I said. "I was really upset when I found out about you; about the hardship Miku-chan is going through because of you. But I can't blame you entirely. I know that you wouldn't purposely hurt Miku-chan."

"I don't mind taking the blame. It _is_ my fault, after all," he leaned back, finally letting his hand fall to his side. "Anyway, in that case, sure you won't mind me telling you a story. But how much do you know, Rin?"

I feel my heart jumped when he called my name, like I've been caught doing something I shouldn't. "If you ask me that, I'm not too sure, but I know that you and Miku-chan are really close."

Face straight, he looks at me, waiting for me to continue.

"The things you've went through… I know about that as well," I quietly added, but I'm sure he can hear me anyway. "I'm sorry about your father."

I saw his face fell just before he looked away. To say that feel bad is an understatement, and I somehow wish that I could take my words back. He's already upset as he is; I don't need to say things that upset him even more.

"You know a lot," he said, his words came with an odd intonation. "I didn't even tell my friend about that… but I really should have, though. How long has it been, again?"

I took a moment to glance at him, even though he's still looking away. "Almost two years."

"Almost two years," he repeated after me. "Maybe it's already three years since his passing."

He turned to face the empty scenery in front of us. "My mother had died during childbirth. She caught an illness when she was pregnant. She didn't survive. My father was the one who raised me ever since I was born. Then there's Miku as well—I get it that you already know about that?"

I nodded. "Miku-chan told me that your father was good friends with her parents, so when they died, your father took her in."

"Yeah." I somehow can hear a smile from his voice. I don't know the meaning of that smile, but it feels like he's laughing at himself. "To think of it, father went through a lot. First was his wife, then his best friends. But he always said that he was glad that we're there with him, even though we knew better that it wasn't easy at all. We weren't exactly badly off, but father had to work really hard to cover everything. It went until we were both in middle school…"

I just stared at my reflection on the ground. I've heard this story before, but it's still painful to hear all of this.

"Then the news came. It's hard. I mean, father is the one we cherish the most in our life, and knowing that he's gone is… hard. Although, it might be not so bad for him since he gets to be with his dear wife and friends again. We know that," his voice trembles slightly, "so we tried our best to make sure father can rest in peace with them."

"We tried our best," he repeated himself. "But it's just, Miku always puts up a smile, even in times when she doesn't feel like smiling, even when she's hurting so badly; I can tell. And I just can't seem to be able to do anything for her."

'Don't say things like that,' I want to say, but a sudden weird feeling interrupted me. Almost at the same time, Len left his seat, and that's when I got my answer.

It has been a while. It's good that it has been a while, but I wonder if that's really the case. It could be just a coincidence that I don't run into people's bad dreams lately—especially Miku-chan's.

Just as I'm thinking about it, Len's voice came into my hearing. "Miku doesn't have as much bad dreams as she used to. At least now I know why."

He walked closer to the border of the bad dream. Even without having to go into the bad dream itself, I can already see what's happening in it—a person, a dark forest, and a hungry leopard. It's a bit hard to see the face of the person themselves because it's too dark in that dream, but the dread, the fear, somehow it fills the atmosphere that it left an image in my head.

Looking back at me, Len asked a question. "So Rin, what's next?" His voice sounds eerily monotonous. I don't know though, this sudden change of mood feels weird to begin with.

His question urged me to come closer, although the answer should be obvious. I feel horrible just standing here watching a bad dream being played in front of my eyes when there's something I can do. Besides, what happened last time wasn't nice—I failed to save a girl from her bad dream.

"I'm going to make it a good dream," I said.

I took a step forward to get closer to the dream, but suddenly Len blocked my way.

"Let me," he said.

He turned around to face the dream, and just like that, a blinding light engulfed us. When I opened my eyes—which I had unknowingly closed—all that left of the dream is the person from before, a huge, clear lake in front of him, and stars that shine bright in the sky. The whole scenery looks breathtakingly beautiful.

It took me a little while to notice that Len is looking at me. He averted his gaze when I finally turned to him, though. "Why is that?" I asked.

He let out a soft laugh. "Consider it as a token of my gratitude."

I noticed that the choice of word is a bit unusual for him, but that's not really what catches my attention. It's the relief written on his face. I mean, of course it is relieving to see seeing that the bad dream has ended, but it looks like there is more than that.

A token of gratitude?

* * *

It's yet another lunch time I spend in the classroom with Miku-chan and Luka-chan. The lunch boxes on the table are already empty, and yet we're still here chatting about various things.

"Anyways, Christmas is nearing!" Luka-chan said excitedly. "Just look at the festivities downtown—it's full of Christmas decorations."

"That's true," Miku-chan nodded affirmatively. "There's a huge Christmas tree in the town plaza. Isn't this the first time we got something like that in our town?"

"I think so. It wasn't that big last year. It's a nice change, though," I said. "Anyway, Luka-chan, have you got any plans for Christmas? Maybe a date or something?"

She quickly shook her head. "No, I don't have anything like that! I don't have anything planned yet, actually. What gives you that idea?"

"Well, it's just a guess since you look so excited about it," I admitted sheepishly.

After all, Christmas is about spending joyful moment with loved ones. That makes me wonder about what Miku-chan's plan is, considering her circumstances. Should I just ask her? Maybe I can arrange something if she doesn't have anything planned yet. Although, I'm not sure if _I_ want to celebrate anything.

Then Miku-chan's voice came. "What do you think of a Christmas party? I've been thinking of having one, but I'm not sure—"

"Ooh, a Christmas party! Count me in!" Luka-chan chimed in.

Miku-chan nodded with a smile. "All right, then. I've bought stuffs like decorations already, so…" then she suddenly trailed off. While looking around nervously, she went on, "I think I'm forgetting something."

"The decorations?" I asked.

She shook her head. "Actually the art club asked me to come over for a bit to give them some ideas for the upcoming exhibition. I told them that I'd come after lunch, but…"

"Well there's still plenty of time," Luka-chan said. "But if you need to go, then maybe you should go now, Hatsune-chan." I nodded to that.

After exchanging glances with both Luka-chan and I, Miku-chan started to pack her lunchbox. "Sorry that it's so sudden… We'll talk about the party later, okay?"

Once she took off, Luka-chan wondered out loud, "Hatsune-chan isn't in any club, huh?"

"Yeah. She's… kinda busy," I said. "And you, Luka-chan? I don't know what club you're in."

"Well, because I don't join the clubs. Don't you think hanging out and doing fun stuffs after school is much better than being in a club?" she smiled at me.

"To each their own, I guess," I gave her a light laugh.

We spent at least a minute in silence. I can say that I'm used with this kind of silence when I'm with Miku-chan, but this is unusual for Luka-chan. But in the end, she's the one who finally initiated another conversation, though, and quite startlingly too.

"Rin-chan! Don't you have something to tell me? Like, anything?" she asked out of the blue. "It's a bit unfair that I'm doing all the ranting here, and you even gave advices to my problems already."

I gave her a nervous smile. "Well, I think that's just how I am. I mean, I think I'm happy enough just by knowing that people are happy."

She holds her gaze on me before chuckling a little. "That's a very Rin-chan thing to say."

I suddenly become really self-conscious about what I just said, I can even feel my face heating up a bit. It's kinda embarrassing, I must say. "Is it?" I murmured in a low voice.

"It's not a bad thing," she proceeded to say. "But I really mean it. If there's something you wanna talk about, I'm here to hear you out. Because, well, it's not nice to keep all your problems to yourself."

I gave her a confused stare. "Thank you, Luka-chan. Why suddenly, though?"

"I noticed, you know," she said. "You look kinda troubled sometimes. It's not really hard to guess that something is bothering you."

"Well," I glanced away. "I guess there is something. Can I talk about it?"

"I asked you to do exactly that, though," she raised an eyebrow.

"I mean—yeah, of course." I admit that this idea of 'telling my problem' makes me a bit nervous, but Luka-chan's willingness to hear me out makes me happy at the same time.

Just before I open my mouth, my eyes met her blue ones. I can see her hard expression before it disappeared in a blink of an eye. "Alright, I'm ready to hear you out. So what is it, Rin-chan?" she asked while resting her head on her hands in a casual manner.

The way she quickly brushed it off caught my attention. That expression was really uncharacteristic for her, and yet she dismissed it like it was nothing. Although, I can save the thought for later; right now Luka-chan is waiting for me to start talking. "It's about my friends…"

* * *

 _Next Update: TBA_

 _Thank you for reading!_


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